Some  Memories 

^  of  My  Life 


Library 

OF  THE 

ersity  of  NortK  Carolina 

This  book  was  presented  by 
lembers  of  the  family  of  the  late 
COL.  A.  B.  ANDREWS 


/  /' 


/t  ^'r^^^J^-^^- 


"^ 


^o 


./ 


/^ 


^-p^^'/C     LL^^-^^^^' 


'/     / 


-Z-,^'^^ 


FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COl 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032690874 


Form  No.  A-368,  Rev.  8/95 


ALFRED  MOORE  WADDKLL 
WILMIN(tTON. 


SOME  MEMORIES  OF 
MY  LIFE 


BY 


ALFRED  MOORE  WADDELL 


1907 


RALEIGH: 

EDWARDS  A  BR017GHTON  PRINTING  COMPANY 
1908. 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
Alfred  Moore  Waddell. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Pagb. 
The  Old  Plantation — Hillsborough — School  Days — The 

Bar  There — The  University — First  Visit  to  New 
York — Admission  to  Bar — A  Queer  Old-Time 
Judge   7 

CHAPTER  II. 

Wilmington  from  1856  to  1865 — Edward  Everett  and 
Henry  W.  Miller — Bell  and  Everett  Campaign — 
First  Japanese — Fort  Sumter — Yellow  Fever — Rail- 
road Wreck — Fort  Fisher — Capture  of  Wilmington 
and  Incidents  Ensuing — Hon.  Geo.  Davis — Ganey. .     39 

CHAPTER  III. 

Strange  Coincidences — Seal  of  Franklin  Literary  So- 
ciety of  Randolph-Macon  College — Shipwreck  of 
Capt.  Hugh  Waddell— The  Mary  Celeste,  John  Wil- 
liam Anderson,  Pilot  73 

CHAPTER  IV. 

A  Post-Bellum  Military  Tribunal — Artemus  Ward — 
Vienxtemps  and  Oie  Bull — Lord  Lytton's  Play — 
The  Commander  of  The  Shenandoah — Foster,  "Me- 
dium"       89 

\  CHAPTER  V. 

Congressional  Experiences    103 

\\ 

CHAPTER  VI. 

\^ 

Quash  and  the  Duel 137 

'I 

CHAPTER  VII. 
A  Rebel  Brigadier  in  Northern  New  England 157 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Garfield — Boutwell  and  Jay — Wilmington  Revolution — 
Race  Problem  Conference — Booker  Washington...   230 


PREFACE. 


As  the  history  of  any  period,  in  order  to  be  of 
interest  and  value,  must  embrace  not  only  its  public 
events,  but  a  great  variety  of  social,  industrial  and 
political  features  illustrative  of  its  life,  it  is  of  ad- 
vantage to  him  who  would  write  it  to  gather  all  the 
material  of  the  latter  kind  within  his  reach  when 
preparing  his  work.  Even  the  reminiscences  of  one 
whose  individual  life  contains  nothing  of  value  may 
be  useful  for  such  a  purpose. 

I  have  written  some  of  mine  on  that  assumption, 
and  not  because  they  contain  any  unusual  or  impor- 
tant facts,  or  literary  merit. 

While  there  has  been  a  large  increase  of  biograph- 
ical and  auto-biographical  writing  of  late  years  the 
previous  lack  of  it  in  North  Carolina  has  been  keenly 
felt  by  all  who  have  undertaken  to  preserve  the  story 
of  her  civilization. 

I  make  my  little  contribution  with  the  hope  that 
others  may  be  induced  to  furnish  memorabilia  of 
greater  interest  and  value,  and  thus  supply  that  class 
of  material  which  constitutes  in  large  measure  the 
real  basis  of  all  true  history. 

This  record  of  my  recollections,  it  will  be  observed, 
is  quite  free  from  any  attempt  to  philosophize  upon 
any  subject  mentioned  in  it.     There  is  no  discus- 


6  Preface. 

sion  of  the  many  public  questions  that  have  arisen 
during  the  long  and  remarkable  period  covered  by  it, 
although  in  many  cases  the  temptation  to  discuss 
them  was  strong.  It  is  a  mere  recital  of  homely  inci- 
dents and  public  events  occurring  under  my  own  ob- 
servation and  preserved  on  the  tablets  of  memory 
during  three  distinct  eras  of  the  history  of  our  coun- 
try,— indeed,  so  far  as  the  Southern  States  are  con- 
cerned, it  would  be  quite  correct  to  say  four  distinct 
eras,  for  they  had  in  addition  to  the  others  a  '^Recon- 
struction" era  which  was  not  vouchsafed  to  the  rest 
of  the  country,  and  the  recollection  of  which  does  not 
suggest  the  poet's  tribute  to  "the  actions  of  the  just" 
vrhich 

"Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust." 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Old  Plantation — Hillsborough— School  Days— The  Bar 
There— The  University — First  Visit  to  New  York — Admis- 
sion to  Bar — A  Queer  Old-Time  Judge. 

My  earliest  recollections  are  of  an  old  plantation 
in  "the  back  country/'  as  the  region  of  middle  North 
Carolina  was  called  by  the  people  on  the  sea  coast. 
It  had  been  the  summer  residence  of  my  ancestor, 
Alfred  Moore,  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  old  mulberry  tree  under  which 
tradition  said  he  used  to  read  law  after  his  admission 
to  the  bar,  was  still  standing  in  my  youth. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  write  it  was  the  summer 
residence  of  his  son,  of  the  same  name,  my  grand- 
father, who  was  a  rice  planter  on  the  lower  Cape 
Fear,  and  a  man  of  extraordinary  gifts  as  a  conver- 
sationist, an  orator  and  belle-lettres  scholar,  who  was 
for  many  years  a  member  and  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons  of  the  State.  He  died  when  I  was  a 
child,  but  I  remember  him  as  he  held  me  on  his  knee, 
and  told  me  stories  about  things  long  since  forgotten. 

This  summer  residence  was  in  Orange  County, 
about  three  miles  from  the  historic  town  of  Hillsbor- 
ough,"^ where  I  was  born  (September  16,  1834),  and 
the  plantation  although  greatly  reduced  in  extent  and 
much  decayed,  still  bears  its  old  name,  Moorefields. 

*  See  "Historic  Hillsborough,"  by  Francis  Nash,  in  N.  C.  Booklet. 


8  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

It  lies  in  the  midst  of  an  undulating  country,  abun- 
dantly watered  by  small  rocky  streams  and  heavily 
wooded  by  every  kind  of  forest  tree  indigenous  to  the 
middle  belt  of  the  Atlantic  States.  At  the  time  when 
I  first  remember  it  there  was  on  one  side  of  the  house 
a  spacious  flower  garden,  filled  with  old-fashioned 
roses,  and  tulips,  and  dahlias,  and  jonquils,  and  hya- 
cinths and  violets.  From  its  box-hedged  beds  several 
large  mimosa  trees  sprang,  and  in  one  corner  a  clus- 
ter of  tall  sunflower  plants  spread  their  yellow  glo- 
ries. A  long  row  of  bee  hives  occupied  the  outer 
line  of  the  fence,  and  the  air  in  summer  was  musical 
with  the  hum  of  thousands  of  busy  honey-makers. 
On  the  other  side,  at  a  little  greater  distance,  was  a 
large  kitchen  garden,  and  leading  down  from  the 
grove  of  noble  oaks  surrounding  the  house  the  brovni 
line  of  a  well-worn  path  stretched  to  another  clump 
of  great  oaks  from  the  pebbly  soil  around  whose  roots 
welled,  bubbling,  a  spring  of  cold  water.  Just  below 
the  spring  the  stream  babbled  through  a  rock-built 
dairy,  laving  the  sides  of  many  crocks  and  pans  of 
earthenware  filled  with  golden  butter  and  creamy 
milk.  Thence  away  over  hillock  and  vale,  beyond 
the  orchard  and  thick  growth  of  cherry  trees,  the  yel- 
low fields  of  waving  grain  and  the  green  ranks  of  In- 
dian corn  were  spread  for  nearly  a  mile  to  where  the 
dark  mass  of  circling  woods  enclosed  them  on  all 
sides. 

On  this  plantation  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  Senator 
from  Missouri,  was  bom  and  passed  his  early  years, 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  9 

his  grandfather,  Thomas  Hart,  Sheriff  of  the  county, 
having  owned  a  part  of  it  in  the  Colonial  period,  and 
it  was  the  scene  of  several  incidents  during  the  Kevo- 
lution,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  hurried 
trip  of  Col.  David  Fanning,  the  Tory  leader,  when, 
on  a  raid,  he  captured  Governor  Burke  and  his  suite 
at  Hillsborough  in  September,  1781,  and  took  them 
through  the  plantation  on  his  way  to  Deep  River  and 
thence  to  Fayetteville  and  Wilmington,  riding  his 
celebrated  mare,  the  "Red  Doe,"  whose  fame  as  the 
swiftest  horse  in  the  country  is  traditional. 

As  I  look  back  and  recall  the  happy  days  spent  on 
that  old  place  they  seem  to  be  separated  from  me  by 
a  hundred  years  and  are  wrapped  in  a  tender  mist 
of  indescribable  memories. 

Those  memories,  too,  are  still  farther  projected 
into  the  past  by  the  traditions  delivered  to  me  from 
my  earliest  childhood,  until  they  almost  seem  to  be 
personal  experiences,  the  effect  of  which  is  like  the 
consciousness  of  having  really  lived  in  a  very  remote 
past.  Many  of  these  traditions  are  associated  in 
my  mind  with  the  figure  of  a  venerable  little  lady 
who  held  in  her  lap  and  played  an  instrument  now 
obsolete — an  English  guitar — which  had  (in  coup- 
lets) twelve  wire  strings  and  the  music  of  which  was 
about  the  same  as  that  of  the  modern  mandolin. 

After  the  recital  of  some  story,  she  would  play  an 
old  English  or  Scotch  air,  to  which  her  youthful 
audience  would  listen  with  absorbed  interest,  and 
then  bombard  her  with  questions,  imtil  they  were 


10  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

politely  informed  that  it  was  her  bed  time.  That 
dear  old  soul  attained  the  age  of  ninety-odd  years 
before  she  was  called  to  join  her  forefathers,  and,  I 
honestly  believe,  never  consciously  did  a  wrong  act  in 
all  her  long  life.  She  never  married,  and  was  ad- 
dressed by  all  who  knew  her,  except  the  servants,  as 
"Aunt.''  Cheerful  and  industrious,  she  was  also  a 
brave  soul  and  fearless  beyond  most  of  her  sex,  as 
was  evidenced  by  several  incidents  in  her  life.  She 
delighted  in  reciting  to  us  youngsters  the  traditions 
to  which  I  have  referred.  These  traditions,  how- 
ever, were  not  received  exclusively  from  my  older 
relatives  or  their  white  neighbors,  for  some  of  them 
were  heard  by  the  cabin  fire-sides  of  the  old  slaves. 

One  of  the  latter,  ^'Uncle  Abel,"  a  venerable  man 
with  a  white  beard,  was  the  son  of  General  Kash's  body 
servant  Harry,  who  was  with  the  General  when  he 
was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Germantown,  Pa.,  Oct.  4, 
ITTY ;  and  the  hours  spent  in  the  old  man's  cabin, 
listenino'  to  his  reminiscences  while  he  smoked  the 
tobacco  which  it  was  my  delight  to  give  him,  are  still 
well  remembered  by  me  though  more  than  fifty  years 
have  passed  since  then.  Uncle  Abel  was  always  a 
very  polite,  well-bred,  and  self-respecting  man  who, 
having  faithfully  served  as  carriage-driver  and  house- 
servant  for  many  years  was,  at  the  time  of  which  I 
write,  exempted  from  work  of  any  kind,  and  living 
with  his  old  wife,  "Maum  Sarah"  in  a  cabin  sur- 
rounded by  his  o^Ti  patch  of  corn,  and  garden  truck 
and  fruit  trees.     Tie  did  not  strictlv  confine  himself 


AXFBED   MoOilE   WadDELL-  11 

to  statements  of  fact  in  entertaining  us  small  boys 
of  the  family,  but  told  some  marvelous  tales  about 
hunting  in  the  low  country  when  he  was  young,  and 
about  duels  and  other  thrilling  events — which  were 
purposely  exaggerated,  1  think,  for  his  'Own  amuse- 
ment, because  I  remember  that  he  laughed  immod- 
erately at  our  expressions  of  astonishment. 

One  storv  that  he  told  about  a  celebrated  wJiite 
deer  in  Brunswick  County  which  had  frequently  been 
shot  at  but  without  effect,  and  about  how  one  fellow 
moulded  a  silver  bullet  to  kill  him,  and  couldn't 
shoot  because  every  time  he  aimed  at  the  deer  a  fly 
would  '^light''  on  the  barrel  of  the  rifle  and  shut  out 
the  sight — was  a  master-piece  of  narrative.  This 
story  was  evidently  one  form  of  the  ancient  tradition 
of  the  White  Doe  which  was  common  throughout  the 
country,  and  which  especially  appealed  to  the  super- 
stitious nature  of  the  negroes,  but  ITncle  Abel  was  too 
intelligent  to  believe  in  the  truth  of  it. 

He  was  not,  however,  exempt  from  the  emotional 
religion  of  his  race,  and  sometimes  had  prayer-meet- 
ings in  his  cabin  to  which  he  invited  the  other  ne- 
groes. Among  these  was  Uncle  Bob,  a  very  tall,  old, 
black  man,  who  disliked  Uncle  Abel  very  much,  be- 
cause he  considered  him  "stuck  up ;"  and  so,  on  one 
occasion  when  Abel  sent  a  message  to  Bob  that  he 
was  going  to  have  a  "praise  meetin,"  at  his  house,  and 
would  be  glad  if  he  would  come,  old  Bob  said :  "You 
go  back  and  tell  Abel  dat  I  say  dere's  a  heap  o'  false 
prophet  gwine  'bout  nowadays." 


12  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

Speaking  of  these  old  negroes  reminds  me  of 
others  in  and  around  Hillsboro,  and  especially  of  one 
big  fat  young  black  fellow  who  belonged  to  a  ^'band'^ 
and  made  most  unearthly  noises  on  a  brass  horn. 
He  was  a  very  sentimental,  though  fat,  darkey,  and 
sang  in  a  high  key.  '^Ben  Bolt"  was  his  favorite 
song,  but  the  havoc  he  played  with  the  words  of  the 
song — as  for  instance,  when  he  yelled: 

"The  mill  have  gone  to  decade,  Ben  Bolt, 
And  the  rafters  have  tumbling  in  " 

was  delightful. 

The  recital  of  such  trivial  recollections  is,  perhaps, 
inexcusable,  but  in  this  connection  it  is  a  fact  worth 
recording  that  for  some  years  about  the  period  under 
discussion  the  actual  clerical  labor  in  the  office  of  the 
Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Orange  County  was  performed 
by  a  negro  slave,  whose  master  was  and  had  been  for 
many  years  the  Clerk. 

The  slave,  who  was,  however,  practically  a  free 
man,  was  Peter  Benton  and  his  handwriting  was 
beautiful.  He  sat  behind  the  door  in  the  Clerk's 
office  and  kept  the  records  as  neatly  and  accurately 
as  any  one  could  do.  I  often  saw  him  thus  engaged, 
the  reason  being  that  his  master  had  grown  old  and 
feeble,  and  Peter  seemed  to  take  pride  and  pleasure 
in  so  aiding  one  who  always  treated  him  more  as  a 
friend  than  as  a  servant.  Among  his  other  accom- 
plishments, too,  Peter  practiced  medicine  in  a  private 
way,  and  was  a  man  of  importance  and  greatly  re- 
spected as  a  superior  sort  of  person  by  the  negroes 


Alieed  Moore  Waddell.  13 

throughout  the  county,  and  was  highly  regarded  by 
the  white  people  as  a  man  of  worth  and  respectability. 

One  of  the  events  happening  about  that  time 
that  impressed  my  youthful  mind  and  excited  my 
imagination  was  the  arrival  in  Hillsborough,  and 
the  passage  through  the  town  on  its  way  to  the  Ala- 
mance battle  ground  where  a  great  celebration  took 
place,  of  the  small-sized  full-rigged  ship  which  the 
Wilmington  people  had  sent  up,  manned  by  blue- 
jackets. It  was  carried  on  a  large,  long  wagon-bed 
and  rocked  from  side  to  side  over  the  rough  streets,  as 
if  at  sea,  and  being  the  first  and  only  ship  that  had 
ever  made  its  appearance  in  that  region,  was  an  ob- 
ject of  the  greatest  interest  and  curiosity,  and  in- 
spired every  school-boy  with  a  desire  to  become  "a 
sailor  bold  and  free."  The  crew  consisted  of  two  or 
three  young  gentlemen  whom  I  knew  in  after  years 
as  among  the  most  genial  and  entertaining  citizens 
of  Wilmington,  and  who  have  long  since  passed  away. 
One  of  them,  Mr.  John  Reston,  was  a  great  humorist, 
and  a  beautiful  tenor  singer. 

E'o  railroad  with  its  roaring  train  and  shrieking 
whistle  had  then  waked  the  echoes  of  the  Occoneechee 
hills  which  overlooked  the  village.  The  old-fashioned 
four-horse  stage,  whose  advent  was  announced  a  half 
mile  away  by  the  strident  notes  of  a  long  tin  horn — 
the  pride  of  the  heavily  bearded  driver,  the  crack  of 
whose  whip  above  his  leaders  was  like  a  pistol-shot- 
was  the  traveler's  means  of  conveyance,  and  the 
bearer  of  the  mails ;  and  its  arrival  was  greeted  by 


14  Some  Memories  ok  My  Life. 

an  assemblage  of  citizens  who  didn't  expect  anything 
particular  in  the  way  of  correspondence,  but  han- 
kered after  the  news,  which  was  retailed  by  the  stage- 
driver  and  passengers,  for  there  were  no  daily  news- 
papers published  then  outside  of  the  big  cities,  and 
these  had  no  subscribers  in  the  village.  While  the 
Mexican  war  was  in  progTess  the  arrival  of  the  stage 
was  the  most  exciting  event  in  the  life  of  the  town, 
because  a  number  of  soldiers  had  gone  from  Orange 
and  the  adjoining  counties,  and  great  anxiety  was 
felt  as  to  their  fate. 

A  few  of  these  had  joined  the  Mississippi  Rifles, 
under  Col.  Jefferson  Davis,  and  had  disting-uished 
themselves,  and  when  they  and  the  other  Orange 
County  men  returned  after  the  war  they  were  wel- 
comed by  a  great  turnout  of  the  people.  I  well  re- 
member one  of  them.  Bill  Hobbs,  who  was  a  splendid 
specimen  of  physical  manhood  but  a  very  modest 
person,  and  how  reluctant  he  was  when  urged  by  my 
father  to  recite  his  part  in  one  of  the  most  desperate 
actions  of  the  war ;  but  his  simple  narrative  of  the 
affair  when  he  was  induced  to  speak — ^his  account  of 
how  he  helped  by  hand  to  roll  a  field  gun  into  posi- 
tion while  the  spokes  were  shattered  by  the  fire  of  the 
enemy,  roused  my  enthusiasm  and  admiration  to  the 
highest  degree,  and  inspired  me  with  a  feeling  of 
awe  while  in  his  presence.  Later  in  life  I  knew  a 
good  many  such  men  in  the  Confederate  anny  and 
among  them  a  cousin,  Maj.  James  F.  Waddell,  of 
Alabama,  who  (according  to  a  statement  made  to  me 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  16 

by  Hon.  Geo.  D.  Wise,  of  Virginia),  while  command- 
ing a  battery  and  after  losing  nearly  all  his  men,  was 
trying  to  work  one  of  his  guns  alone,  when  Wise,  a 
staff  officer,  who  was  carrying  a  dispatch,  dismounted 
and  helped  him. 

In  those  days  Hillsborough  was  better  provided 
with  good  schools  than  any  town  in  the  State,  if  not 
in  the  South. 

A  private  school  for  boys  was  conducted  by  the 
Rev.  Moses  Ashley  Curtis,  Kector  of  the  Episcopal 
jhurch,  but  the  number  of  scholars,  of  whom  I  was 
one,  was  limited.  Dr.  Curtis  was  afterw^ards  dis- 
tinguished both  in  this  country  and  Europe  as  a  bot- 
anist of  rare  attainments,  and  is  still  referred  to  and 
quoted  as  such  by  eminent  writers  in  that  department 
of  natural  science.  As  evidence  of  the  fact  the  late 
Mr.  Wm.  A.  Wright,  of  Wilmington,  told  me  that  he 
was  visiting  the  Kew  Gardens  in  London  some  years 
ago  with  his  wife,  and  in  passing  a  pit  where  an  em- 
ploye was  at  work  he  exclaimed  ^Vhy  look  there 
at  our  BioYKjea  Muscipnla!'*  Whereupon  the  man 
looked  up  surprised,  and  in  a  moment  afterwards  left 
the  place.  A  little  while  passed  when  another  more 
important  looking  person  approached,  and,  contrary 
to  English  custom,  addressed  Mr.  Wright,  saying, 
"You  are,  I  suppose.  Sir,  from  America?"  to  which 
the  latter  replied  in  the  affirmative;  "And,  I  appre- 
hend, from  [N'orth  Carolina  ?"  "Yes.''  "And  from 
Wilmington,  or  its  vicinity?"  'Well,  Sir,  you  sur- 
prise me,  but  you  are  correct — I  am  from  Wilming- 


16  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

ton."  The  gentleman  then  introduced  himself  as 
the  Superintendent  of  the  Gardens  and  explained 
that  the  employe  had  come  and  told  him  about  Mr. 
Wright's  exclamation  at  the  sight  of  the  Dionwa,  and 
'that  as  it  was  a  plant  whose  growth  was  confined 
chiefly  to  the  region  around  Wilmington,  he  inferred 
that  he  must  have  come  from  that  locality.  He 
then  inquired  if  Mr.  Wright  was  acquainted  with 
Dr.  Curtis,  and  proceeded  to  pay  a  very  high  tribute 
to  him  as  a  botanist,  and  after  expressing  regret  that 
he  had  not  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  that  science, 
concluded  by  saying  that  if  he  had  done  so  he  would 
be  recognized  as  one  of  the  greatest  botanists  in  the 
world.  Dr.  Curtis  had  not  attained  such  distinction 
at  the  time  he  was  preaching  and  teaching  school  at 
Hillsborough,  but  if  he  had  most  persons  would  not 
have  known  it,  for  reputation  of  that  kind  in  those 
days  was  known  only  to  men  of  science.  Like  him- 
self his  school  was  modest  and  unpretentious,  and, 
as  I  have  already  said,  was  limited  as  to  numbers, 
but  it  turned  out  good  scholars.  Dr.  Curtis  num- 
bered among  his  other  accomplishments  a  knowledge 
of  music  and  played  the  organ  and  piano  well.  Once, 
while  training  a  church  choir  of  which  I  was  a  young 
member,  for  Christmas  music,  he  caught  my  pronun- 
ciation of  the  word  "Jerusalem,"  which  was  not  at 
all  different  from  the  others,  and  immediately 
stopped  the  singing,  and,  calling  me  by  name,  said  in 
his  abrupt  way,  'What  does  S-a-1-e-m  spell?"  "Sa- 
lem," I  replied.     'Well,  what  does  J-e-r-u-s-a-1-e-m 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  17 

spell  ?"  The  point  was  readily  seen,  and  from  that 
day  to  this,  the  word  "Jeroozlum"  has  been  an  abom- 
ination to  my  ears. 

He  appeared  to  be  blunt  of  speech,  and  rather  un- 
sympathetic in  his  manner,  but  this  was  a  shield  he 
wore  to  protect  himself  from  exposing  one  of  the 
most  generous  hearts  that  ever  beat  in  a  human  bosom, 
and  to  conceal  sensibilities  that  were  as  tender  as  a 
woman's.  As  illustrative  of  this,  I  remember  that 
once  when  he  and  my  father,  who  was  his  intimate 
friend,  had  been  discussing  the  inexhaustible  wealth 
of  texts  for  sermons  contained  in  the  IN'ew  Testament, 
the  latter  remarked  that  he  had  never  heard  him 
preach  a  sermon  on  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son, 
one  of  the  most  touching  and  beautiful  stories  in  the 
Bible,  and  expressed  a  wish  that  he  would  do  so,  to 
which  Dr.  Curtis  replied  that  he  couldn't  trust  him- 
self on  that  theme  for  he  would  break  down  com- 
pletely. 

Certainly  no  casual  acquaintance  of  his  w^ould 
have  suspected  him  of  possessing  such  a  nature,  and  it 
is  doubtful  whether  it  was  known  to  more  than  a  few 
of  those  among  whom  he  lived  for  years. 

The  Bingham  school,  conducted  by  the  father  of 
the  gentlemen  who  afterwards  became,  and  one  of 
whom  is  still,  so  distinguished  as  educators,  was  at 
the  height  of  its  fame  and  had  students  from  every 
Southern  State ;  and  Mrs.  Burwell's  school  for  young 
ladies  was  enjoying  a  wide-spread  popularity  and  a 
large  patronage. 
2 


18  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

The  Bingham  school  was  succeeded  by  the  Cald- 
well Institute,  under  Rev.  Alexander  Wilson,  which 
sustained  the  high  character  of  its  predecessor.  I 
attended  both,  but  was  very  young  when  Mr.  Bing- 
ham removed  to  another  locality,  although  I  well 
remember  his  superior  gifts  as  a  teacher,  and  espe- 
cially his  wonderful  discipline.  ^'Old  Bill,'^  as  he 
was  called  by  the  boys,  was  known  from  Virginia  to 
Texas  as  the  best  schoolmaster,  and  the  strictest  dis- 
ciplinarian in  the  South.  His  brother  John  Bing- 
ham, who  was  his  assistant,  was  one  of  the  best  men, 
and  it  now  seems  to  me  the  very  best  Latin  teacher 
I  ever  knew. 

Ralph  H.  Graves,  whose  son  of  the  same  name  was 
afterwards  a  professor  at  the  University  of  iN'orth 
Carolina,  was  the  sweet-tempered,  but  eccentric, 
teacher  of  mathematics,  but  the  career  both  of  Mr. 
John  Bingham  and  Mr.  Graves  was  chiefly  at  the 
Caldwell  Institute.  The  late  Governor  Alfred  M. 
Scales  was  also  a  tutor  in  the  same  institution,  and 
more  than  twenty-five  years  afterwards,  when  he  and 
I  were  members  of  Congress,  I  used  to  tease  him 
about  having  been  my  teacher  and  model  of  right- 
eousness in  those  days. 

The  experiences  of  a  boy  at  school  there  at  tliat 
time  were  very  varied.  Hillsborough  was  the  county 
seat  of  Orange,  which  then  embraced  all  of  what  is 
now  Alamance  and  a  large  part  of  what  is  now  Dur- 
ham County,  and  the  courts  were  held  there.  Strange 
as  it  may  sound  to  modem  ears,  it  is  still  no  exag- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  19 

geration  to  say  that  there  was  no  Bar  in  the  United 
States  from  Boston  to  New  Orleans  that  was  superior 
to  the  one  which  at  that  time  assembled  at  Hills- 
borough. 

Both  of  the  then  United  States  Senators  from 
North  Carolina,  Willie  P.  Mangum,  Senator  and 
acting  Vice-President,  and  Wm.  A.  Graham,  Senator 
and  afterwards  Secretary  of  the  Navy — lived  and 
practiced  law  in  Orange  County.  Two  men  who  were 
afterwards  successively  Chief  Justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  State,  Thomas  Ruffin  and  Fred- 
erick Nash,  lived  there.  George  E.  Badger,  Senator 
and  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Wm.  H.  Haywood,  Unit- 
ed States  Senator;  Abram  W.  Venable,  member  of 
Congress ;  Hugh  Waddell,  Speaker  of  the  State  Sen- 
ate; Henry  W.  Miller,  Robt.  B.  Gilliam,  afterwards 
Judge;  Perrin  Busbee,  Edwin  G.  Reade,  afterwards 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  others  of  like  char- 
acter practiced  at  that  bar,  and  they  had  no  superiors 
anywhere. 

Whenever  a  case  of  importance  Avas  to  be  tried  the 
boys  at  school  were  given  a  holiday  in  order  that  they 
might  hear  the  great  lawyers  speak,  and  they  never 
failed  to  take  advantage  of  the  privilege.  I  remem- 
ber several  such  cases  and  the  effect  they  produced 
upon  the  boys  who  heard  the  trials.  One  or  two  that 
I  recall  were  murder  cases,  in  which  the  prisoners 
were  convicted  and  hanged,  and  of  course  the  boys 
witnessed  the  executions,  for  there  is  no  horror  great 
enough  to  suppress  the  eager  curiosity  of  a  school 


20  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

boy.  If  the  ghastly  preparations  for  these  execu- 
tions, the  parade  through  the  village,  and  the  final  act 
in  the  awful  drama  affected  the  other  boys  as  they 
did  me  they  have  not  to  this  day  forgotten  them. 
ISText  to  the  victims,  the  person  who  suffered  most  on 
these  occasions  was  the  Sheriff  of  the  county,  who 
was  a  very  tender-hearted  and  benevolent  man  and 
had  a  holy  horror  of  the  duty  imposed  upon  him. 
He  was  a  next  door  neighbor  and  friend  and  client 
of  my  father,  and  in  that  way  I  learned  of  his  great 
aversion  to  the  performance  of  this  part  of  his  office 
and  I  remember  how  depressed  he  was  whenever 
called  upon  to  perform  the  painful  task. 

Politics  ran  high  in  those  days,  and  during  the 
campaigns  there  was  as  great  bitterness  between 
Whigs  and  Democrats  as  has  ever  since  existed  be- 
tween members  of  opposing  parties.  ]^o  election 
day  ever  passed  without  numerous  fisticuffs,  and 
sometimes  there  were  very  serious  ''free  fights"  in 
which  large  numbers  were  engaged  and  blood  was 
freely  spilled. 

I  remember  one  such  occasion  when  the  entire 
court-house  square  seemed  to  be  a  struggling  mass  of 
fighting  men.  These  occasions,  it  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  say,  were  red  letter  days  for  the  school  boys, 
who  missed  no  part  of  the  performance,  and  ex- 
]>erienced  unmitigated  delight  in  following  up  the 
combatants. 

General  musters  of  the  militia  of  the  county  were 
annually  held,  and  they  were,  if  possible,  more  excit- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddei^l.  21 

ing  and  joyous  events  to  the  boys  than  any  others. 
Excepting  the  drums  and  fifes,  and  the  gorgeous  uni- 
forms of  the  generals  and  their  staffs,  there  was  noth- 
ing military  to  be  seen,  unless  a  few  old  flint-lock 
muskets  proudly  carried  by  a  man  here  and  there 
in  the  serpentine  ranks  might  be  so  regarded ;  and 
the  manoeuvres,  invariably  resulting  in  the  inextri- 
cable mixing  up  of  all  the  companies  with  their  guns, 
sticks  and  umbrellas,  and  the  frantic  efforts  to  get 
back  into  some  kind  of  formation,  furnished  a  come- 
dy which  not  one  of  those  boys  has  ever  yet  seen 
equalled. 

On  one  of  those  general  muster  days  when  it 
seemed  to  me  that  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the 
county  was  present,  there  was  an  incident  which  was 
probably  the  most  unique  in  the  annals  of  that  his- 
toric county.  My  younger  brother,  a  little  boy, 
owned  a  large  white  hog  which  had  been  given  to 
him,  and  which  had  served  him  as  a  saddle  animal 
around  the  yard  and  sometimes  in  the  streets.  An- 
ticipating the  general  muster  he  determined  to  "jine 
the  cavalry,"  and,  with  the  assistance  of  his  negro 
boy  Wesley,  he  secretly  prepared  the  trappings  for  his 
war  horse  "Dick." 

With  a  correct  idea  of  contrasted  colors  he  selected 
red  flannel  decorations  for  Dick,  but  without  due 
regard  to  contingencies  he  made  his  bridle  reins  of 
the  same  material. 

When  the  day  arrived,  and  the  sound  of  a  drum  in 
the  distance  assured  him    that    the    procession  was 


22  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

about  to  be  formed  he  decked  out  bis  steed  and 
mounted  him,  with  the  negro  boy  behind,  and  slowly 
reached  a  position  on  the  street  where  he  intended  to 
join  the  head  of  the  procession. 

At  last  it  appeared  a  long  way  off,  but  before  it 
reached  his  position  the  squeal  of  the  fifes  and  crash 
of  the  drums  had  been  suspended  and  only  the  faint 
tap  of  one  kettle  drum,  to  measure  the  time,  was 
heard.  Meantime  ''Dick"  was  grunting  and  feeding 
quietly  along  the  edge  of  the  sidewalk  with  the  two 
warriors  on  his  back.  Finally,  just  as  the  head  of 
the  column  had  reached  a  point  nearly  opposite  him 
a  perfect  pandemonium  of  drums  and  fifes  and  yells 
was  turned  loose,  and  Dick,  as  if  struck  by  an  electric 
shock,  lifted  his  head,  uttered  a  loud  "goof"  and  fair- 
ly split  the  wind  for  home,  distributing  the  red 
flannel  trappings  and  the  two  boys  on  his  way 
amidst  the  shouts  and  laughter  of  the  spectators. 

As  there  was  a  greater  variety  of  good  fish  in  the 
streams  and  more  small  game  in  the  fields  and  woods 
around  Hillsborough  than,  perhaps,  anywhere  else  in 
the  State,  so  there  were  more  "characters"  there. 
The  remembrance  of  some  of  them  is  to  this  day  a 
frequent  source  of  amusement  to  me.  Among  them 
was  one  fellow,  generally  known  as  "Universal  Bill," 
who  was  an  especial  object  of  interest  to  the  school 
boys  because,  although  not  large  in  stature,  he  was  "a 
holy  terror"  as  a  fighter,  and  always  illustrated  that 
fact  on  public  occasions.  He  was  not  what  the  ne- 
groes called  a  "poor  bockra,"  being  the  possessor  of 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  23 

some  property,  but  he  seemed  to  regard  it  as  essential 
to  the  maintenance  of  his  dignity  as  a  citizen  that  he 
should  be  on  hand  at  all  public  gatherings,  and  en- 
gage in  personal  combat  Avith  any  and  every  body 
who  was  at  all  inclined  to  indulge  in  that  sort  of 
exercise. 

On  one  occasion  he  was  arrested  for  fighting,  and 
being  carried  by  four  men,  two  holding  his  arms  and 
two  his  legs,  into  the  presence  of  a  very  stern  magis- 
trate, he  '^cussed"  the  Court,  and  being  fined  a  dol- 
lar for  the  offense  he  pulled  out  a  bill  and  laying  it 
down  said  he  would  "cuss"  out  the  balance,  which  he 
proceeded  to  do  with  great  vigor. 

Another,  but  very  different,  character  residing  in 
the  town  at  that  time  was  a  very  quiet  man  who, 
although  uneducated,  possessed  a  genuine  wit  that 
was  proverbial.  I  recall  a  specimen  of  it,  as  fol- 
lows: A  dog,  supposed  to  have  gone  mad,  was  pur- 
sued with  an  outcry  through  the  streets,  and  was 
finally  driven  into  an  enclosure  where  he  was  pelted 
with  sticks  and  stones  and  otherwise  harried  by  the 
boys  for  some  time  while  a  crowd  assembled  and 
looked  on.  During  the  excitement  one  of  the  crowd 
said,  '^I  don't  believe  that  dog  is  really  mad,"  where- 
upon the  quiet  citizen  observed,  ^^Well,  gentlemen,  if 
he  ain't  mad  he  certainly  is  the  best  natured  dog  that 
ever  I  saw." 

God  bless  the  old  town  which  has  a  history  that 
began  before  the  American  Revolution,  and  which 
has  numbered  among  its    inhabitants    some  of    the 


24  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

most  refined,  cultured  and  patriotic  people  of 
America. 

At  that  time  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men 
in  the  State,  after  retiring  from  high  public  positions, 
consented  to  preside  over  the  County  Courts  of  their 
respective  counties.  Willie  P.  Mangum,  ex-Judge 
and  ex-United  States  Senator,  presided  in  Orange 
County,  and  I  tried  my  first  case  before  him. 
Ex-Chief  Justice  Ruffin  presided  in  Alamance  Coun- 
ty and  ex-United  States  Senator  Badger  in  Wake 
County.  Their  services  were  purely  patriotic,  and 
gratuitous  and  were  important  and  valuable  to  the 
counties. 

The  first  volume,  recently  published,  of  the  very 
interesting  and  exhaustive  ^ ^History  of  the  Univer- 
sity," by  its  former  President,  that  able,  scholarly  and 
faithful  !North  Carolinian,  Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle,  cov- 
ers the  period  of  my  college  life  (as  of  every  other 
period  up  to  1868)  so  completely  as  to  leave  no  room 
for  sketches  of  some  of  the  young  men  there  at  that 
time,  who  afterwards  made  their  mark,  and  there- 
fore I  will  only  make  the  general  observation  that  of 
the  students  there  at  that  time  (1850-53)  there  were 
a  good  many  who  became  prominent  in  almost  every 
sphere  of  activity  and  usefulness.  As  Senators  and 
Representatives  in  Congress  and  the  legislatures  of 
several  States,  as  Governors  of  States,  Judges,  emi- 
nent professional  and  business  men,  and  as  heroes 
in  the  war  between  the  States  from  the  rank  of  Brig- 
adier General  to  private,  they  can  be  named;   and 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  25 

among  the  latter,  alas !  if  the  roll  were  called,  in  many 
cases  their  living  comrades  must  answer  ^^Killed  in 
battle,"  or  "died  of  wounds." 

The  same  may  be  said  of  a  great  many  students 
both  of  a  prior  and  a  subsequent  date,  for  the  Univer- 
sity contributed  more  than  a  thousand  of  her  sons  to 
the  ranks  of  the  Confederate  army,  of  whom  nearly 
four  hundred  perished  in  the  conflict. 

My  recollection  of  the  personal  appearance  and 
characteristics  of  the  Faculty  of  my  day  was  briefly 
given  in  the  Centennial  Address  at  the  University  in 
1895,  as  follows: 

"Governor  Swain  was  sui  generis.  He  was  the  most 
unpromising  looking  man,  perhaps,  in  the  State. 
Tall,  large,  with  stooping  shoulders,  and  joints  loose- 
ly set  at  odd  angles,  with  a  long,  dark  and  profoundly 
melancholy  countenace,  and  a  most  peculiar  throaty 
intonation  of  voice,  it  is  not  surprising  that  his  per- 
sonal appearance  was  freely  commented  upon  by  stu- 
dents ;  and  the  sobriquet  of  'Old  Bunk,'  which  they 
gave  him  in  honor  of  his  native  county  of  Buncombe 
flavored  their  criticism. 

"The  most  unique  and  original  observation  in  re- 
gard to  his  personal  appearance  that  I  remember  to 
have  heard  was  made  by  a  student  a  short  while  be- 
fore I  joined  college.  The  student,  who  was  a  little 
fuddled  with  wine  and  not  very  accurate  in  his 
knowledge  of  Genesis,  said  ^Old  Bunk  reminds  me 
of  Chaos;  he  is  without  form  and  void.'  And  yet, 
with  his  personal  disadvantages,  there  was  something 


26  Some  Memories  ojf  My  Life. 

imposing  and  attractive  in  his  presence,  and  when 
he  began  to  pace  to  and  fro  in  the  lecture  room  and 
discuss  the  great  men  and  the  great  questions  which 
had  agitated  society,  he  clothed  himself  and  his  sub- 
ject with  a  sort  of  fascination  which  fixed  the  atten- 
tion and  excited  the  admiration  of  his  hearers.  He 
was  a  gentle  spirit,  with  a  kindly  humor  and  an  inno- 
cent vanity  in  regard  to  some  things,  but  endowed 
with  large  intellectual  capacity,  a  wonderful  memory, 
and  last  but  not  least,  an  unerring  tact.  He  pos- 
sessed as  extensive  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
history  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina  as  any  man 
of  his  generation,  and  made  some  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  our  historical  literature.  He  was  a  walking 
enclycopedia  of  information  upon  the  genealogy  of 
the  State.  It  would  be  a  gTateful  task,  if  my  hour 
permitted,  to  give  a  pen  picture  of  the  associate  pro- 
fessors of  Governor  Swain  who  were  personally 
known  to  me  as  a  student.  I  can  not,  and  am  sure 
no  other  student  of  that  day  can  think  of  them  except 
with  reverent  affection.  1  can  see  before  me  now 
the  splendid  dome  in  which  was  housed  the  brain  of 
Dr.  Mitchell  and  which,  among  all  the  heads  I  ever 
saw,  was  the  noblest  in  form  and  proportion ;  and 
the  sturdy  frame,  the  quick  step  and  the  circular 
glasses  behind  which  beamed  the  kind,  brov/n  eyes  of 
Dr.  Phillips ;  and  the  refined  and  dreamy  counte- 
nance of  Dr.  Hubbard ;  and  the  courtly  gi*ace  of  Dr. 
Wheat ;  and  the  sensitive  diffidence  of  Professor  Fet- 
ter, and  the  grave  and  gentle  manner  of  Professor 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  27 

Shipp.  I  have  gazed  with  strange  emotions  into  the 
clear  pool  on  the  shaggy  slope  of  our  highest  mountain 
into  which  on  that  June  night  in  1858  Dr.  Mitchell 
was  precipitated  to  his  death ;  and  to  me  the  rostrum 
of  Gerrard  Hall  has  been  invested  with  a  sacred  in- 
terest since  that  venerable  servant  of  God,  Dr.  Phil- 
lips, in  1867,  even  in  the  act  of  prayer,  was  called 
thence  to  his  reward.  Like  these  two,  but  without 
the  tragic  incidents  which  accompanied  their  taking 
off,  all  the  other  professors  who  were  here  in  my  day 
have  also  passed  away." 

Dr.  Battle  does  not  neglect  to  mention  even  the 
servants  of  the  University,  several  of  whom  are 
sketched  by  him.  There  was  one,  however,  in  my 
day  whom  he  omitted,  probably  because  he  was  not 
a  regular  employe  and  only  served  the  students  occa- 
sionally (and  surreptitiously)  with  so-called  '^sup- 
pers." He  was  a  rather  small,  black,  and  very  bow- 
legged  negro  named  Charles  Liggins  (probably  Lig- 
on)  whom  I  remember  solely  on  account  of  an  extra- 
ordinary "toast"  as  he  called  it,  which,  upon  demand 
by  one  of  the  boys,  he  invariably  declaimed  with 
changing  attitude  and  g-esture. 

This  "toast"  was  Charles's  rendition  of  the  last 
stanza  of  Campbell's  "Pleasures  of  Hope,"  the  first 
line  of  which  he  recited  thus:  "Eternal  Hope, 
whence  yonder  sphere  swarblind,"  and  in  every  sub- 
sequent line  he  introduced  the  word  "whence"  in  the 
most  vehement  manner  until  the  climax,  when  with 
tragic  air  he  exclaimed: 


28  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

'^Thou,  ondressed  maid,  shalt  o'er  the  ruins  smile." 
Whereupon  ^ed  Graham,  of  New  Bern,  would  fall 
out  of  his  chair  hug  himself  and  fairly  howl  with 
delight. 

Receiving  my  legal  education,  first  under  Chief 
Justice  ISTash  and  Judge  Bailey  at  Hillshorough,  and 
afterw^ards  under  Judge  Battle  and  Saml.  F.  Phil- 
lips, Esq.,  at  Chapel  Hill,  and  heing  admitted  to  the 
bar  by  the  Supreme  Court  under  a  promise  not  to 
practice  until  of  age,  it  was — as  a  verbose  gentleman 
characterized  such  an  occurrence — "a  curious  con- 
catenation of  fortuitous  circumstances"  that  my  first 
fee  was  paid  to  me  on  my  21st  birthday  by  a  stranger, 
the  same  being  a  four-dollar  bill  of  the  old  Bank  of 
Cape  Fear,  which  should  have  been  preserved  as  a 
souvenir,  but  was  not  withdrawn  from  circulation. 

It  excites  my  risibles  even  to  this  day  to  recall  an 
incident  that  occurred  in  the  early  career  of  one  of 
my  friends  who  afterwards  commanded  a  brigade  in 
Lee's  Army.  We  were  both  reading  law  at  the  time, 
he  in  Alamance  County  and  I  in  Orange.  He  was 
invited  to  deliver  the  Fourth  of  July  oration  at  the 
county  seat  (Graham),  and  great  preparation  was 
made  for  the  observance  of  the  occasion.  He  was  a 
bright  fellow,  and  devoted  his  whole  time  for  several 
weeks  to  writing  and  committing  to  memory  and  de- 
claiming in  the  fields  and  woods  his  gorgeous  and 
thrilling  bursts  of  verbal  pyrotechnics,  l^otwith- 
standing  the  impossibility  of  securing  a  band  or  other 
suitable  music  for' the  occasion  he  determined  that  it 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  29 

would  never  do  to  celebrate  the  day  without  music 
of  some  kind,  and  after  diligent  effort  and  when 
about  to  abandon  all  hope  he  learned  that  there  had 
just  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  "a  wandering  min- 
strel'' with  a  musical  instrument  the  name  of  which 
was  unknown  to  his  informant.  He  determined  to 
utilize  him  for  the  occasion  and  did  so.  He  found 
that  the  instrument  carried  by  the  w^anderer  was  not 
a  harp  or  hand  organ,  but  a  ''hurdy  giirdy"  and  also 
discovered  that  the  artist  had  only  one  eye  and  was  a 
little  deaf,  but  anxious  for  an  engagement  at  any 
price.  A  bargain  was  made,  and  the  aforesaid  or- 
chestra was  carefully  instructed  by  the  orator  just 
when  to  begin  the  overture,  and  when,  on  a  signal, 
to  stop ;  but  the  special  and  peculiar  thing  to  be  ob- 
served was  the  moment  w^hen  the  peroration  was  to 
close,  at  which  moment  the  orator  would  make  a 
grand  sweeping  gesture,  whereupon  the  orchestra 
should  immediately  ^'break  fourth  into  joy."  The 
first  part  of  the  progi'am  was  carried  out  according  to 
orders  and  the  orator  rose  and  turned  loose  the  Amer- 
ican Eagle,  while  the  orchestra  fixed  its  cyclopean 
gaze  with  concentrated  intensity  upon  him  and  held 
it  there  like  the  Ancient  Mariner  until,  in  his  enthu- 
siasm, the  orator,  who  had  not  gotten  half  through, 
forgot  his  instructions  and  made  the  grand  gesture 
agreed  upon,  and  immediately  the  orchestra  seized 
the  crank  of  the  hurdy  gurdy  violently  and  made  the 
rafters  ring  with  the  tune  of  "The  Hog-eye  Man." 
The  orator  tried  to  stop  him  by  "waving^  him  down" 


30  Some  Memobjes  of  My  Life. 

and  calling  in  an  undertone  but  this  was  interpreted 
to  mean  ^'faster,"  and  the  crank  worked  with  acceler- 
ated speed  until  the  orator  sat  down  amid  the  cheers 
and  laughter  of  the  crowd. 

To  hear  the  foregoing  story  told  by  Gen.  W.  W. 
Kirkland  (who  was  the  Fourth  of  July  orator),  with 
all  the  embellishments  with  which  he  adorned  it,  was 
indeed  a  rare  treat. 

At  that  time  (1855)  I  made  my  first  visit  to  'New 
York,  an  event  to  which  every  untraveled  country- 
bred  youth  looked  forward  with  hope,  as  the  realiza- 
tion of  his  fondest  dream. 

Stopping  at  Old  Point  Comfort  on  the  way  for  a 
few  days,  I  got  my  first  view  of  life  at  a  fashionable 
summer  resort  of  that  period,  and  was  introduced  to 
some  persons  prominent  in  society,  among  whom  was 
Madame  Bonaparte,  of  Baltimore,  then  somewhat  ad- 
vanced in  life  and  a  very  gTacious  and  charming  ma- 
tron. On  the  boat  that  took  me  from  there  to  Balti- 
more were  two  of  my  former  Hillsborough  school- 
mates, one  of  whom  was  on  his  wedding  tour  and  both 
of  whom  were  as  "green"  as  myself.  The  route  then 
traveled  most  commonly  from  Philadelphia  to  Kew 
York  was  by  the  Camden  and  Amboy  railroad,  and 
thence  by  boat  from  Amboy. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  Battery  at  the  foot  of 
Broadway  my  two  friends  mounted  with  me  to  the 
top  of  the  old-fashioned  stage  in  order  that  we  might 
see  the  sights  on  our  way  up  town,  and  just  as  we 
ascended  the  first  slope  of  the  street  and  saw  the  long 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  31 

crowded  thoroughfare  stretxjhing  before  us,  my  newly 
married  friend,  unable  to  restrain  his  enthusiasm, 
exclaimed,  ''By  George,  it  looks  like  Hillsborough 
election  day!'^ 

Our  home  while  in  New  York  was  the  far-famed 
St.  Nicholas  Hotel,  then  in  the  fullness  of  its  glory 
and  said  to  be  the  finest  hotel  in  the  world,  with  its 
wealth  of  variegated  marbles,  plate  glass,  frescoes, 
gilded  columns  and  luxurious  furnishings,  all  of 
which  was  a  revelation  of  imimagined  splendor  to  the 
eyes  of  a  rural  visitor  of  that  day,  and  would,  if  still 
in  existence,  be  an  establishment  "not  to  be  sneezed 
at"  to-day. 

Castle  Garden  had  been  the  great  opera  house  prior 
to  that  time  and  Jenny  Lind  had  run  New  York  wild 
with  her  singing  there  a  few  years  before,  but  we 
heard  one  of  the  last  performances  ever  given  there, 
if  not  the  last,  when  Sonnamhula  was  sung  by  the 
best  artists  of  the  day.  Niblo's  was  the  fashionable 
theater,  and  we  heard  there  two  of  the  other  old  ope- 
ras, the  ''Bohemian  Girl,''  and  the  "Child  of  the 
Regiment,"  which  are  still  remembered  by  me  be- 
cause it  was  my  first  experience  of  the  kind,  and  my 
passion  for  music  was  gratified  as  never  before. 

The  Croton  reservoir  was  one  of  the  show  places, 
the  location  being,  I  believe,  where  the  splendid  pub- 
lic library  building  now  stands,  and  the  Crystal  Pal- 
ace, built  in  1853  for  the  World's  Fair,  was  still  open 
to  visitors.  The  latter  structure  was  situated  between 
Fortieth  and  Forty-second  streets  on  Sixth  avenue 


32  Some  Memokies  of  My  Life. 

which  was  then  a  suburb  of  the  city,  there  being  few, 
if  any,  solid  blocks  beyond  the  neighborhood  of 
Twenty-third  street.  There  was  not  even  a  horse- 
car  line  in  the  city,  public  transportation  being 
by  means  of  omnibuses,  stages  and  similar  ve- 
hicles, and  I  believe  there  was  no  hotel  above 
Fourteenth  street  on  the  corner  of  which  street  and 
Broadway  stood  the  Roosevelt  residence,  which  was 
considered  one  of  the  fine  private  up-town  homes. 
Another  show  place  was  the  Five  Points,  down  on 
the  "East  side,  which  was  the  quarter  inhabited  by  a 
majority  of  the  lowest  criminals,  murderers,  burglars, 
pickpockets  and  thieves.  No  one  ever  ventured  to 
go  there  at  night,  and  no  stranger  ever  went  there, 
even  in  the  day  time,  except  under  police  protection, 
as  we  did,  and  even  then  the  creatures  we  saw  and 
their  surroundings  sent  a  chill  of  horror,  fear  and 
disgust  through  us.  There  was  a  complete  trans- 
formation of  this  devil's  den  some  years  after  our 
visit,  when  it  was  cleansed  of  its  vile  population,  and 
rebuilt  with  business  houses  and  other  structures. 

When  I  came  to  the  bar  there  were  on  the  bench 
some  of  the  finest  specimens  of  the  old-time  judges 
still  presiding — men  saturated  with  the  spirit  and 
learning,  and  characterized  by  the  dignified  manners 
of  a  former  age.  They  preserved  the  traditions  of 
the  profession  in  all  their  integrity  and  hedged  them- 
selves about  with  a  barrier  that  forbade  the  approach 
of  levity  or  familiarity  while  engaged  in  the  per- 
formance of  duty,  whether  in  open  court  or  at  eham- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  33 

bers.  No  lawyer  would  have  dared  to  talk  to  one  of 
them  about  his  case  in  advance  of  a  trial,  or  to  use 
the  privilege  of  social  intercourse  as  a  means  of  dis- 
covering the  inclination  of  the  judicial  mind  on  any 
question  that  might  come  before  the  court.  While 
the  official  conduct  of  these  old  Romans  of  the  law 
was  alike,  their  personal  characteristics  differed,  of 
course,  as  much  as  those  of  other  men.  There  was 
one  of  them,  however,  who  had  such  a  marked  indi- 
viduality as  to  entitle  him  to  a  brief  special  notice, 
and  I  will  attempt  to  give  a  picture  of  him  from 
memory. 

He  wore  a  suit  of  plain  black  cloth,  a  little  the 
worse  for  use,  a  year-old  silk  '^tile,"  a  high  black  satin 
stock  over  the  edges  of  which  was  turned  down  a 
narrow  margin  of  linen  collar,  and  a  pair  of  roomy 
boots,  which  moaned  at  every  step  he  took.  The  one 
pronounced  part  of  his  apparel,  however, — ^the  pecu- 
liar feature  of  his  wardrobe, —  was  a  pair  of  black 
kid  gloves,  each  finger  of  which  was  an  inch  too 
long,  and  which  gave  to  his  hands  the  appearance  of 
being  maimed.  Dignity  is  an  inadequate  word  to 
convey  a  just  idea  of  his  bearing.  Solemnity  would 
come  nearer  to  it.  Propriety  itself  felt  constrained 
in  the  court  room  where  he  presided.  He  could 
smile,  but  that  unusual  occurrence  gave  a  tearful  look 
to  his  long,  dark  countenance,  which  rather  added  to 
the  general  melancholy  of  his  expression.  He  was, 
in  every  feature  and  limb,  a  long  man.     His  teeth 


34  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

were  large  and  long,  and  he  had  a  habit  of  placing 
his  forefinger  on  his  right  eye-tooth  when  listening 
to  argument,  or  evidence,  or  when  meditating.  He 
was  also  given  to  soliloquizing  in  an  audible  tone 
when  not  on  the  bench,  which  impressed  strangers 
with  an  idea  that  he  was  mentally  unsound,  or  re- 
markably eccentric ;  but  he  was  really  a  good  lawyer 
and  a  man  of  the  most  sterling  integrity.  He  sternly 
administered  justice  where  fraud  or  crime  was  in- 
volved, for  he  hated  a  scoundrel. 

In  his  day  the  stocks  and  the  whipping-post  were 
still  in  use,  and  were  considered  to  be  the  surest  pre- 
ventives of  petty  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  an  opin- 
ion in  which  he  fully  concurred.  Another  opinion 
which  he  firmly  held  was  that  French  brandy  was  the 
only  liquor  fit  for  a  gentleman  to  drink,  although  he 
was  willing  to  admit  that  there  might  be  extenuating 
circumstances,  such  as  the  impossibility  of  getting 
that  beverage,  that  would  justify  the  substitution  of 
whiskey;  and,  as  it  was  generally  impossible  to  get 
it  in  the  country  villages  of  his  circuit,  these  exten- 
uating circumstances  constantly  arose, — ^but  only 
during  the  intervals  of  court,  for  no  one  ever  knew 
him  to  give  the  slightest  evidence  of  having  stimu- 
lated while  on  the  bench. 

As  might  be  expected  from  so  gloomy  a  character 
he  pondered  much  upon  the  problems  of  life,  and, 
while  reverential  towards  religion  and  the  Bible, 
which  he  read  much,  was  inclined  to  rely  on  his 
reason,   and   to   preserve   an   independent   judgment 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  36 

about  that  as  about  all  things.  He  conceived  a  dis- 
like for  St.  Paul  because  of  his  teaching  the  doctrine 
of  eternal  damnation  so  strenuously,  insisting  that 
this  was  a  perversion  of  the  true  teaching  of  the  Mas- 
ter, and  asserting  most  illogically  that  ''if  Paul  had 
lived  in  this  day  he  would  have  been  called  a  dema- 
gogue." All  this  would  be  said  in  a  tone  and  with  a 
gesture  almost  funereal,  and  perhaps  in  the  next 
breath  he  w^ould  ask  for  a  glass  of  brandy,  and  after 
absorbing  it  would  stride  up  and  down,  soliloquizing 
and  feeling  that  eye-tooth. 

His  especial  time,  however,  for  soliloquizing  was 
late  at  night,  w^hen  he  would  silently  get  out  of  bed, 
and  lighting  a  long-stem  pipe,  would  sit  by  the  fire- 
place in  his  long  night  gown,  and  talk  to  himself  for 
an  hour  or  two.  If  anything  unusual  had  occurred 
in  court,  or  any  person  w^th  a  strange  name  had  been 
before  him,  that  would  most  probably  be  the  theme 
of  his  observations.  He  did  not  speak  in  under- 
tones, but  in  an  ordinary  conversational  way  which, 
in  the  silence  of  midnight,  could  easily  be  heard  in 
an  adjoining  room. 

On  one  occasion  a  short,  ill-formed,  and  unprepos- 
sessing individual  w^ith  a  decided  Hebrew  name  of 
three  syllables,  which  was  hard  to  pronounce, — and 
this  was  always  an  offence, — was  a  party  to  a  suit 
before  him  involving  some  commercial  transactions 
of  a  rather  shady  character.  After  a  tedious  trial 
the  case  had  been  given  to  the  jury  about  nightfall, 


36  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

and  they  had  retired  to  find  a  verdict,  with  the  pros- 
pect of  an  all-night  session.  The  Judge  went  to  bed, 
but  about  midnight  the  occupant  of  the  room  ad- 
Joining  his  heard  him  move  a  chair  to  the  fireplace, 
and  heave  the  deep  sigh  which  always  preceded  his 
soliloquies.  After  a  few  moments  he  began,  in  a 
mournful  voice,  and  with  frequent  pauses : 

"It  ought  to  be  an  indictable  offence  to  have  such  a 
name  as  that  defendant's — Moses  must  have  had  an 
awful  time  keeping  the  muster  roll  of  the  children 
of  Israel — ^but  I  suppose  that  was  done  by  the  cap- 
tains of  hundreds — They  must  have  been  stouter  men 
than  this  fellow,  to  have  killed  so  many  enemies,  and 
conquered  so  many  tribes — That  is  a  cruel  history — 
but  the  ways  of  Providence  are  past  finding  out — 
Joshua  must  been  a  good  general — but  Old  Hickory 
would  have  made  short  work  with  him — Strange  peo- 
ple, and  a  strange  history — They  must  have  been  good 
farmers  and  stock  raisers  in  Bible  times — but  there 
is  not  a  Jew  in  this  country  that  owns  a  plough,  or 
even  a  stump-tail  bull — Yes,  I  suppose  the  race  began 
to  degenerate  physically  at  an  early  period. — Saul, 
the  son  of  Kish,  was  a  big  tall  man,  but  tradition 
says  that  Saul  of  Tarsus,  called  Paul,  was  a  little  fel- 
low, not  much  over  five  feet  high, — ^just  about  such 
a  looking  one,  I  suppose,  as  that  fellow  with  the  in- 
fernal name  whose  case  was  tried  to-day. 

"N^o  doubt  he  believes  in  eternal  damnation,  too — 
Well, — if  anybody  deserves  it,  it's  a  fellow  that 
drinks  beer,  and  can't  appreciate  a  good  ham — Beer  I 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  37 

— there  is  no  mention  of  such  a  drink  in  the  Bible — 
Wine,  and  strong  drink  are  often  referred  to — Even 
Paul  recommends  a  little  wine  for  the  stomach's 
sake,  hut  beer — no  case  can  be  cited  from  Scripture 
where  it  was  used,  and  the  maxim  'expressio  unius, 
exclusio  alterius'  applies — Judgment  accordingly — 
What  the  'strong  drink'  mentioned  in  the  Bible  was 
made  of,  is  not  stated — there's  no  evidence  on  that 
point — but  it  couldn't  have  been  whiskey — unless  it 
was  wheat  whiskey,  which  is  the  best — It  certainly 
was  not  corn  liquor,  for  there  wasn't  any  corn  in  that 
country — although  they  called  wheat  com — It  was 
brandy — distilled  grape  juice — what  we  now  call 
French  brandy,  I  suppose — the  only  drink  fit  for  a 
gentleman — and,  if  so,  it  proves  that  those  people 
were  civilized — But  I  apprehend  that  it  was  not  com- 
monly used,  for  most,  if  not  all,  the  reported  cases 
of  intoxication,  beginning  with  Noah,  were  from 
wine,  and  not  from  strong  drink — They  tell  me  that 
too  much  wine  makes  a  man  sicker  than  too  much 
spirits — I  am  glad  that  I  do  not  drink  it — it  is 
mighty  poor  stuff." 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  sentence  his  listening 
neighbor  heard  him  move  his  chair,  and  in  a  moment 
afterwards  caught  the  sound  of  glass  and  the  gurgle 
of  a  bottle,  followed  by  a  profound  sigh  and  the  re- 
placing of  his  chair  by  the  fire.  A  silence  of  some 
moments  ensued,  and  then  the  soliloquy  was  resumed : 

''When  did  those  people  begin  to  have  surnames? 
— There  are  not  a  half  dozen  surnames  in  the  whole 


38  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

Bible — Think  of  writs  being  issued  against  'Jacob' 
or  'Daniel,'  in  a  town  as  big  as  Jerusalem, — and 
the  suits  for  false  arrest  that  must  have  followed — 
If  anybody  had  sued  out  an  injunction  against 
'Paul'  for  preaching  his  doctrine,  and  had  even  de- 
scribed him  as  'of  Tarsus,'  the  wrong  man  might 
have  been  enjoined,  for  Tarsus  was  ^no  mean  city,'' 
and  there  were  probably  whole  families  of  that  name 
there — I  suppose,  however,  that  they  could  hardly 
have  made  a  mistake,  as  nobody  else  would  ever  have 
proclaimed  such  a — the  Lord  forgive  me — damnable 
doctrine — If  the  jury  find  a  verdict  for  that  fellow 
I  think  I  will  set  it  aside  and  grant  a  new  trial — the 
weight  of  evidence  is  against  him — ^his  name  is  out- 
rageous— he  wears  a  moustache — ^he  parts  his  hair  in 
the  middle — and  I  am  informed  that  he  plays  the 
fiddle, — damn  him.'' 

And  he  knocked  out  his  pipe  and  went  to  bed. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  39 


CHAPTER  II 

Wilmington  from  1856  to  1865 — Edward  Everett  and  Henry 
W.  Miller — Bell  and  Everett  Campaign — First  Japanese — 
Fort  Sumter — Yellow  Fever — Railroad  Wreck — Fort  Fisher 
— Capture  of  Wilmington  and  Incidents  Ensuing — Hon. 
George  Davis — Ganey. 

In  the  Spring  of  1856  I  removed  to  Wilmington, 
the  old  ' 'stamping  ground"  of  my  forefathers,  which, 
excepting  about  a  year's  residence  in  Charlotte  (1882- 
83),  has  ever  since  been  my  home.  On  my  arrival 
there  I  found  the  town  overshadowed  by  a  tragedy 
which  had  occurred  a  day  or  two  before. 

It  was  the  duel  that  had  been  fought  between  Jo- 
seph H.  Planner  and  Dr.  Wm.  C.  Willkings  in  which 
the  latter  was  killed.  Both  were  young  men  who 
had  been  friends,  the  one  a  merchant,  and  the  other 
a  physician.  It  was,  so  far  as  I  now  recall,  the  last 
fatal  duel  fought  in  the  State,  and,  alas !  was  caused 
by  a  petty  political  controversy  over  the  election  of 
Commissioners  of  Navigation  for  the  port  of  Wil- 
mington. The  effect  of  the  duel  on  the  whole  com- 
munity was  very  observable  and  very  depressing-. 
One  young  life  (26)  snuffed  out,  and  another  blasted 
and  destined  to  end  in  a  foreign  country  under  a 
heavy  cloud. 

In  that  year  the  election  for  President  occurred, 
and  I  made  my  first  political  speech  for  Pillmore 
and  Donelson,  who  were  defeated,  as  was  Premont, 
the  first  candidate  of  the  Republican  party,  by  Buch- 


40  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

anan  and  Breckenridge.  That  contest  was — all  un- 
consciously to  most  of  those  engaged  in  it — the  first 
skirmish  between  the  forces  that  five  years  afterwards 
confronted  each  other  in  the  greatest  war  of  modern 
times.  The  real,  earnest,  and  enthusiastic  Union 
■  men  in  that  struggle  were  the  supporters  of  the  Fill- 
more and  Donelson  ticket.  They  were  the  conserva- 
tive element  of  the  population  who  were  equally  op- 
posed to  the  extremists  of  both  sections  of  the  coun- 
try. Intensely  devoted  to  the  Union,  they  feared  the 
effect  of  the  growing  antagonisms  between  the  anti- 
slavery  party  of  the  E^orth  and  the  Secession  party  of 
the  South,  indulging  as  they  did  the  vain  hope  that 
these  antagonisms  might  be  reconciled  in  some  way 
that  would  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  Republic. 
Vain,  indeed,  were  such  hopes  as  the  rapidly  culmi- 
nating events  proved. 

At  that  time  Wilmington  was  the  largest  naval 
stores  market  not  only  in  this  country,  but,  perhaps, 
in  the  world. 

There  was  also  a  very  considerable  lumber  business 
with  the  West  Indies,  for  which  return  cargoes  of 
sugar,  molasses  and  coffee  were  received;  and  much 
lumber,  with  the  cargoes  of  naval  stores  and  cotton, 
was  shipped  to  the  TsTorth  and  to  Europe.  There 
was  a  fleet  of  coastwise  vessels,  including  a  large  num- 
ber of  ''Corn  Crackers"  from  the  ISTortheastern  coun- 
ties of  the  State,  and  several  river  steamboat  lines  to 
Fayetteville  had  been  established  which  made  daily 
trips,  so  that  the  wharves  presented  a  very  lively  ap- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  4:1 

pearance  and  property  on  the  river  front  was  the 
most  valuable  in  the  city.  This  situation,  which 
was  very  profitable  to  the  commission  merchants, 
brokers  and  middle-men,  continued  with  increasing 
proportions  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war;  but 
when  ISi  ew  Inlet,  where  Fort  Fisher  afterwards 
stood,  was  closed  after  the  war  by  the  great  engineer- 
ing feat  which  marked  an  era  in  constructions  of  that 
kind,  the  "Corn  Cracker"  trade  which  had  been  car- 
ried on  entirely  through  that  inlet,  was  destroyed, 
because  it  was  then  necessary  to  go  around  Cape 
Fear  and  the  Frying  Pan  Shoals  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  an  additional  distance  of  perhaps  fifty  miles 
of  dangerous  navigation.  The  general  substitution 
of  steam  for  sails  greatly  reduced  the  number  of  sail- 
ing vessels  trading  to  the  port,  and  changed  the  char- 
acter of  the  business,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that 
the  naval  stores  business,  owing  to  the  exhaustion  of 
the  turpentine  forests,  was  soon  shifted  to  points  fur- 
ther south  where  it  has  flourished  for  many  years 
past. 

Those  were  the  ''flush  times"  of  ante-bellum  Wil- 
mington, although  they  now  appear  somewhat  insig- 
nificant. There  were  four  banks  with  ample  capital 
for  the  needs  of  business,  and  each  was  conducted 
honestly  and  profitably  until  wiped  out  by  the  re- 
sults of  the  war.  The  principal  business  section 
of  the  town,  outside  of  the  shipping  and  commission 
business,  was  between  Water  and  Second  streets  from 
west  to  east,  and  between  Mulberry  (now  Grace)  and 


42  Some  Memories  of  My  Life, 

Ann  streets  from  north  to  south.  There  was  but  one 
public  market  which  occupied  the  center  of  Market 
street  between  Front  and  the  river  and  on  top  of 
which  was  a  bell  tower,  from  which,  in  accordance 
with  an  ancient  custom,  the  old  bell  (which  now 
serves  as  a  fire  alarm  at  the  Fourth  Street  engine 
house)  was  rung  in  the  morning,  at  noon,  sunset  and 
nine  o'clock  at  night. 

The  old  ^'Line"  steamers  between  Wilmington  and 
Charleston  established  by  ''Commodore"  Vanderbilt, 
had  been  supplanted  by  the  railroad  then  called  the 
Wilmington  and  Manchester  (now  the  W.  C.  &  A.), 
which  had  just  been  built  and  the  depot  for  which 
stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  opposite  to  the 
foot  of  Market  street,  and  could  only  be  reached  by 
the  ferry.  The  Wilmington,  Charlotte  and  Ruther- 
ford, now  the  Carolina  Central,  railroad  was  about 
to  be  constructed,  but  the  chief  transportation  facil- 
ities by  land  were  furnished  by  the  Wilmington  and 
Weldon  railroad,  now  a  part  of  the  Atlantic  Coast 
Line  system. 

l^otwithstanding  all  the  jokes  that  have  been  per- 
petrated and  the  more  or  less  good-natured  ridicule 
that  has  been  indulged  in  concerning  the  alleged  su- 
periority of  everything  "before  the  war"  there  is — 
so  far  as  the  social  life  and  customs  of  the  people  at 
that  period  are  to  be  compared  with  those  of  the  pres- 
ent— a  great  deal  of  truth  in  the  claim.  It  is  cer- 
tainly true  that  the  radical  change  in  the  fortunes  of 
the  people,  involving  as  it  did  the  necessity  of  con- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddeel.  43 

stant  employment  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages  in  the 
struggle  for  existence,  could  not  operate  otherwise 
than  to  destroy  to  a  large  extent  the  social  ideals  and 
observances  that  had  previously  prevailed,  and  with 
every  year  of  such  experience  the  ideals  faded  more. 
In  the  eyes  of  people  from  some  other  parts  of  the 
country  such  observances  were  regarded  as  fantasti- 
cal, if  not  ridiculous,  but  it  was,  after  all,  better  than 
the  vulgar  disregard  of  social  amenities  that  prevailed 
in  the  homes  of  such  critics.  This  is  a  subject  upon 
which  much  has  been  written,  and  more  might  be, 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  the  fact  that,  socially 
as  well  as  politically,  things  are  not  as  they  used  to 
be,  and  in  the  eyes  of  old  people  in  this  part  of  the 
vineyard,  not  by  any  means  as  good  as  they  used  to 
be. 

There  was  nothing  of  what  is  called  ''style"  among 
the  well-bred  people  of  the  Cape  Fear  country,  but 
there  was  w^hat  was  much  better — unbounded  hospi- 
tality, scrupulous  courtesy  and  civility  amongst  men, 
and  vmiversal  deference  to  women  and  to  old  age. 

In  those  days  few  people  in  Wilmington  spent 
their  summers  in  the  mountains  of  ISTorth  Carolina — 
the  most  glorious  and  beautiful  region  on  this  conti- 
nent— because  of  the  fatiguing  travel  it  involved, 
but  some  went  to  the  middle  part  of  the  State  where 
they  had  summer  residences,  inherited  in  many  in- 
stances from  their  forefathers,  and  found  there  the 
ease  and  comfort  which  they  so  much  enjoyed. 

But  the  larger  part  of  the  absentees  in  the  summer 


44  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

went  to  the  Sound,  and  to  Smithville,  now  South- 
port.  Their  residences  at  both  places  were  ''open 
house"  to  all  their  friends  and  the  life  in  them  was 
ideal,  so  far  as  absolute  freedom  from  form  and 
ceremony  was  concerned.  Dinner  parties,  boating 
expeditions,  oyster  roasts,  and  similar  entertainments 
were  the  daily  experiences,  and  the  young  people 
danced  away  the  evenings  in  unalloyed  pleasure. 
The  Sound,  however,  as  both  Wrightsville  and  Ma- 
sonboro  were  called,  was  the  chief  resort  of  the  young 
people,  who  in  a  long  procession  of  vehicles  of  all 
kinds  would  drive  down  over  the  sandy  roads,  and 
have  such  an  outing  as  the  modern  electric  road,  the 
modern  hotel,  and  modern  cottage  life  on  the  beach 
can  never  equal.  In  those  days  there  was  not  even 
a  fisherman's  hut  on  Wrightsville  Beach,  and,  ex- 
cept on  the  Fourth  of  July,  when  the  annual  regatta 
which  was  inaugiirated  about  that  time,  was  held, 
the  only  visitors  were  boating  parties,  or  sportsmen 
fishing  for  drum  in  the  surf.  E'ow,  the  whole  length 
of  the  beach  for  a  distance  of  more  than  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  one  inlet  to  the  other,  is  closely  built  up 
with  cottages,  hotels,  and  club  houses,  with  trolley 
cars  running  every  half  hour  during  the  summer 
season  to  and  from  Wilmington. 

To  a  young  man  fond  of  field  sports,  and  fishing, 
and  good  cheer,  life  on  the  rice  plantations  of  the 
Cape  Fear  river  at  that  time  was  most  attractive. 
These  plantations  extended  for  many  miles  along  both 
branches  of  the  river,  ending  with  Orton,  about  eigh- 


Alfred  Moobe  Waddele.  45 

teen  miles  below  Wilmington,  and  were  homes  of 
unbounded  hospitality.  Alas!  the  rice  planter  of 
the  Cape  Fear  is  an  extinct  species.  For  some  years 
after  the  war  a  few  endeavored  to  carry  on  the  busi- 
ness, but  it  gradually  ceased,  chiefly  because  of  the 
difficulty  in  securing  labor,  but  finally  because  of  its 
unprofitableness,  and  now  the  rich  lands,  the  original 
cost  of  clearing  and  ditching  and  ^'banking,"  of 
which  averaged  perhaps  a  hundred  dollars  an  acre 
and  that  were  for  more  than  a  century  very  valuable 
and  profitable,  are  practically  worthless  and  aban- 
doned, at  least  for  the  purposes  for  which  they  have 
been  immemorially  used. 

There  were  two  military  companies  in  the  town, 
the  Wilmington  Light  Infantry,  organized  in  the 
year  1853,  of  which  I  was  a  member,  and  the  Ger- 
man Volunteers,  organized  a  little  later,  and  the 
town  was  justly  proud  of  them,  for  they  were  well 
drilled,  and  handsomely  uniformed.  I  think  the 
dress  uniform  of  the  Light  Infantry  was  the  hand- 
somest I  ever  saw.  This  company  made  a  memorable 
trip  to  Fayetteville  and  on  to  Kaleigh  in  1857. 
They  went  by  boat  to  Fayetteville  but  marched  from 
there  to  Raleigh,  a  distance  of  sixty  miles,  which  was 
the  first  experience  of  the  kind  that  any  military  com- 
pany in  the  State  had  undergone  since  the  war  with 
Mexico,  when  some  of  the  companies  of  volunteers 
had  to  march  considerable  distances  to  reach  trans- 
portation facilities.  The  Light  Infantry  were  treated 
with  srreat  distinction  both  at  Favetteville  and  Ra- 


46  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

leigh,  and  there  was  much  speaking  and  banqueting  at 
both  places.  Mr.  Edward  J.  Hale,  founder  and  edi- 
tor of  The  FayetteviUe  Observer  (which  is  still  pub- 
lished by  his  able  son  of  the  same  name),  made  the 
speech  of  welcome  at  FayetteviUe,  and  Governor 
Bragg  the  speech  of  welcome  at  Raleigh. 

At  the  banquet  at  Raleigh,  which  was  held  on  the 
first  floor  of  the  old  Guion  Hotel,  now  the  State  Mu- 
seum, some  fine  speeches  were  made.  Among  the 
orators  was  ex-Governor  Manly,  and  it  so  happens 
that  I  distinctly  remember  one  of  his  sentences,  when 
in  an  eloquent  and  impassioned  protest  against  the 
encouragement  of  the  spirit  of  discord  and  disunion 
which  was  then  brewing  in  the  country,  he  pictured 
the  culmination  of  it  as  ''  the  dread  hour  when  the 
heroic  spirits  of  our  Revolutionary  dead  shall  walk 
disturbed  among  us."  I  also  remember  that  about  an 
hour  later  when  the  revelry  of  the  boys  had  reached 
its  climax,  I  saw  him  and  Governor  Bragg,  who  was 
an  exceedingly  dignified  man,  hastily  disappearing 
through  a  window  as  if  fleeing  from  the  wrath  to 
come.  That  eloquent  outburst  against  disunion, 
which  was  as  sincere  as  any  human  utterance  ever 
was,  recalls  the  speech  which,  about  three  years  after- 
wards, I  heard  Hon.  Gustavus  A.  Henry,  of  Tennes- 
see, make  at  the  Bell  and  Everett  Convention  in  Bal- 
timore, which  was  a  magnificent  and  thrilling  de- 
nunciation of  disunion  that  brought  tears  to  my  eyes. 
And  at  the  same  time  I  remember  that  fierce  Union 
men  as  Ave  then  were,  in  less  than  a  year  afterwards 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  47 

I  was  a  Confederate  soldier,  and  a  little  later  Mr. 
Henry  was  Confederate  Senator  from  Tennessee. 

It  was  about  this  period  that  the  present  City  Hall 
building  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  old  Academy, 
which  had  been  converted  into  a  theater  by  the  Tha- 
lian  Association,  under  an  agreement  between  the 
latter  and  the  town  to  construct  on  the  east  end  of  the 
building  a  new  theater,  or  opera  house.  This  was 
done,  and  it  has  ever  since  been  the  only  opera  house 
in  the  city.  The  Thalian  Association  was  in  quite  a 
flourishing  condition  and  gave  frequent  entertain- 
ments. The  play  bill  for  one  of  these  performances 
is  by  some  chance  still  in  my  possession,  and  although 
the  cast  of  characters  for  the  play  and  succeeding 
farce  contains  a  long  list  of  names,  mine  is  the  only 
one  among  them  of  a  living  person  to-day.  The  late 
Col.  James  G.  Burr  wroto  a  very  interesting  sketch 
of  the  Association  some  years  ago  which  was  pub- 
lished, but  whether  there  are  any  copies  of  it  extant 
or  not  I  do  not  know.  One  thing  may  be  safely  said 
in  regard  to  those  entertainments,  viz:  that  they  af- 
forded infinite  amusement  and  pleasure  to  the  audi- 
ences, for,  although  there  were  some  really  clever 
actors  among  the  members  of  the  Association,  there 
was  almost  certain  to  be  some  mishap  that  put  the 
house  in  a  roar  of  laughter. 

The  play  just  referred  to,  for  instance,  was  the  ex- 
travaganza called  ^'The  Invisible  Prince,"  in  which 
I  took  the  title  role,  and  another  young  gentleman, 
Mr.  Henry  Savage,  the  part  of  the  "Queen  of  the 


48  Some  Memobies  of  My  Life. 

Fairies,"  and  at  a  certain  point  of  supposed  dramatic 
interest  when  the  Prince  was  suddenly  discovered  in 
a  grotto  it  was  the  part  of  the  Queen  to  swoon  and 
fall  upon  a  green  bank  to  the  great  dismay  of  her 
attendants.     Those  large    unmanageable    hoop-skirts 
were  then  in  style,  and  the  Queen  had  put  on  one  of 
them  over  his  trousers.     He  gracefully  fell  on  the 
green  covered  lounge  representing  the  bank,  with  his 
feet  toward  the  audience,  and  the  hoop  skirt  flew  up 
high  enough  ^'to  see  his  cravat"  as  one  expressed  it, 
and,  amidst  the  storm  that  followed,  the  curtain  fell. 
Another  ridiculous   incident  occurred   in  the   same 
play  on  a  former  occasion,  when  a  very  corpulent 
member,  Mr.  Alva  Burr,  took  the  part  of  the  Invis- 
ible Prince,  and  in  the  death  scene,  while  lying  on  his 
back  surrounded  by  his  followers  who  were  singing  a 
dirge  over  his  prostrate  form,  the  audience  observed 
a  strange  palpitation  in    the    ample  bosom    of  the 
corpse,  and  soon  discovered  that  it  was  singing  bass. 
During  those  two   or  three  years  preceding  the 
war  several  memorable  lectures  were  delivered  in  that 
opera  house,   two   of  which  greatly  impressed   me. 
One  was  the  celebrated  address  of  Edward  Everett 
on  Washington,  in  behalf  of  the  Ladies'  Mount  Ver- 
non Association,  which  was  the  most  perfect  piece  of 
elocution  I  have  ever  heard.     It  was  said  that  Mr. 
Everett  had  carefully  rehearsed  that  speech  before  a 
mirror  in  order  to  render  its  delivery  faultless  in 
tone  and  gesture,  and  certainly  its  perfection  in  every 
detail  justified  such  a  suspicion.    His  voice  was  melo- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  49 

dious,  his  action  was  easy  and  graceful,  his  gestures 
were  beautifully  expressive  of  every  shade  of  his 
thought,  and  his  rhetoric  was  exquisitely  polished  and 
pure ;  and  yet  there  was  a  total  absence  of  that  mag- 
netic influence  without  which  no  man  can  be  really 
eloquent,  or  sway  an  audience.  My  own  impression 
in  regard  to  the  address  was  given  to  a  friend  imme- 
diately after  hearing  it  in  these  words :  '^I  can  only 
compare  that  speech  to  a  globe  of  ice.  It  was  perfect 
in  its  rounded  form,  perfect  in  its  transparent  purity 
of  thought  and  in  its  polished  diction,  but  as  cold 
as  the  jN^orth  Pole.'' 

The  other  address  to  which  1  refer  was  the  splen- 
did lecture  of  Henry  W.  Miller,  on  'The  Eighteenth 
Century,'-  some  sentences  of  which,  uttered  in  his 
deep-toned  voice  and  with  intense,  though  suppressed, 
feeling  and  gesture — as,  for  instance,  when  describ- 
ing the  awakening  of  the  spirit  of  liberty  among  the 
masses,  he  spoke  of  '^the  might  that  slumbers  in  a 
freeman's  arm" — were  strikingly  eloquent  and  im- 
pressive. In  neither  of  the  speeches  was  there  any 
impassioned  oratory,  but  they  were  as  fine  specimens 
of  different  styles  of  the  highest  order  of  public 
speaking  as  were  ever  exhibited  in  my  experience. 

At  that  time  the  current  of  public  events,  although 
gliding  swiftly  to  the  cataract  and  the  whirlpool,  was 
on  its  surface  smooth  until  it  struck  the  boulder  of 
the  John  Brown  raid  in  1859  and  broke  into  foam 
and  fury,  arousing  the  country  with  sudden  and 
startling  effect  to  a  realization  of  its  close  proximity 


50  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

to  an  appalling  catastrophe,  but  after  that  porten- 
tous occurrence  the  turbulence  and  swirl  of  the 
stream,  despite  numberless  eddies  of  reaction,  be- 
came more  and  more  manifest. 

In  1859  President  Buchanan  attended  the  Com- 
mencement at  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  and 
for  the  first  time  in  its  history  a  military  company, 
the  Wilmington  Light  Infantry,  was  also  present, 
having  met  and  escorted  the  President  as  a  guard  of 
honor  from  Raleigh.  Besides  the  military  company 
there  had  also  gone  from  Wilmington  the  Major  Gen- 
eral of  militia  and  his  staff,  of  which  I  was  a  mem- 
ber. Orders  had  been  sent  ahead  by  the  general  for 
horses  to  be  in  readiness  at  Raleigh  for  the  grand 
parade  there,  and  when  we  arrived  a  half  dozen 
prancing  steeds,  splendidly  caparisoned,  were  await- 
ing us  at  the  station,  but  one  of  the  staff  positively 
refused  to  take  his  mount,  declaring  that  it  would  be 
at  the  cost  of  his  life,  for  he  couldn't  ride.  The  re- 
sult was  that  the  general  and  staff  marched  on  foot 
at  the  head  of  the  procession,  which  was  very  absurd, 
but  not  so  absurd,  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  sub- 
sequent events,  as  an  incident  that  occurred  after  our 
arrival  at  the  University.  The  General  was  informed 
that  there  was  a  lieutenant  of  the  United  States 
Army  on  the  ground  who  had  intimated  a  willingness 
to  serve  on  his  staff  if  invited,  but  the  invitation  was 
not  extended  as  the  gentleman  was  unknown  to  the 
General.     The  General  died  at  the  beginning  of  the 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  51 

war  and  therefore  never  knew  that  the  lieutenant's 
name  was,  as  I  was  afterwards  told,  ^^ Jeb"  Stuart ! 

Being  a  young  and  enthusiastic  Union  man,  and 
extremely  desirous  to  do  all  that  was  in  my  power  for 
its  preservation,  I  bought  The  Daily  Herald  and,  in 
May,  1860,  abandoning  the  practice  of  law,  devoted 
myself  to  the  publication  of  that  paper  for  a  year 
prior  to  the  war.  Shortly  after  assuming  that  posi- 
tion I  was  made  an  alternate  delegate  to  the  National 
Convention  which  met  in  Baltimore  and  nominated 
John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  for  President,  and  Edward 
Everett,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice-President.  It 
was  my  first  experience  of  the  kind,  and  naturally 
it  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  me.  Immediately 
behind  the  North  Carolina  delegation  sat  the  New 
York  delegation,  and  among  the  latter  were  Erastus 
Brooks  and  James  W.  Gerard.  Mr.  Gerard  made  a 
very  bright  speech  advocating  the  nomination  of 
Gen.  Sam  Houston,  of  Texas,  for  President,  and  a 
Mr.  Harris,  of  Missouri  (who  was  afterwards  a 
member  of  the  Confederate  Congress),  also  made  a 
fervent  and  eloquent  speech.  I  have  already  spoken 
of  the  speech  of  Gustavus  A.  Henry,  of  Tennessee,  as 
a  characteristic  outburst  in  behalf  of  the  Union,  and 
of  the  fact  that  he  was  subsequently  a  Senator  in 
the  Confederate  Congress. 

Upon  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention,  in  com- 
pany with  Hon.  0,  P.  Meares,  who  was  also  a  dele- 
gate, I  went  over  to  Washington  where  a  great  de- 


52  Some  Memories  of  My  Life, 

bate  between  Jefferson  Davis,  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
and  others  was  in  progress,  and  witnessed  quite  a 
dramatic  scene  in  the  Senate  in  which  those  cham- 
pions were  actors.  We  also  witnessed  while  in  Wash- 
ington the  landing  of  the  first  Japanese  representa- 
tives that  ever  visited  this  country.  They  came  on  a 
United  States  man  of  war  and  were  landed  at  the 
navy  yard  where  a  great  throng  of  people  assembled 
to  see  the  landing  and  the  parade  that  followed  up 
Pennsylvania  avenue  to  Willard's  Hotel,  where  quar- 
ters for  the  Japanese  had  been  provided.  Remem- 
bering that  occurrence  and  the  condition  of  the  Jap- 
anese at  that  time,  and  comparing  them  with  the 
present  attitude  of  Japan  as  the  victor  over  the  pow- 
erful Russian  Empire,  the  transformation  in  the  ca- 
reer of  the  former  seems  almost  miraculous.  A  peo- 
ple who  at  that  time,  forty-five  years  ago,  were  count- 
ed as  an  insignificant  nation  of  island  barbarians 
without  any  of  the  ideas  of  modern  civilization,  and 
therefore  absolutely  destitute  of  a  navy  or  discip- 
lined army,  or  financial  system,  or  any  of  the  in- 
dustrial forces  that  constitute  the  strength  of  a 
'Svorld  power"  of  the  twentieth  century,  has  now 
reached,  as  it  were  by  leaps  and  bounds,  the  position 
of  arbiter  of  the  destinies  of  the  East.  It  has  no 
parallel  in  history. 

ISTot  long  after  these  events  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion occurred,  and  the  new  era  of  American  history 
began.  'No  one  who  lived  through  that  hysterical 
period  can  now  look  back  upon  it  without  a  feeling 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  53 

of  mingled  pity  and  astonishment,  or,  unless  utterly 
devoid  of  a  sense  of  humor,  fail  to  see  in  the  rapidly 
culminating  tragedy  many  of  the  comic  features 
which  invariably  characterize  every  great  popular 
convulsion.  But  these  were  of  short  duration  and 
soon  disappeared  beneath  the  opposing  tidal  waves 
that  swept  over  the  land.  Under  their  overwhelming 
influence  in  each  section  of  the  country  party  lines 
were  obliterated,  and  after  the  secession  of  the  South- 
ern States  the  Northern  people  became  practically  a 
unit  on  one  side,  and  the  Southern  people  more  near- 
ly absolutely  '^solid"  on  the  other.  The  eyes  of  the 
people  on  both  sides  were  fixed  on  events  in  Charles- 
ton harbor,  where  the  first  act  of  the  drama  of  civil 
war  was  about  to  be  performed. 

On  the  evening  of  April  10,  1861,  the  telegraph 
operator  at  the  Wilmington  ofiice  confidentially  com- 
municated to  me  at  the  Herald  office  a  telegTam  that 
had  just  passed  through  from  General  Beauregard  at 
Charleston  to  Jefferson  Davis  at  Richmond,  saying 
that  he  would  open  fire  on  Fort  Sumter  at  4  a.  m., 
if  Major  Anderson  refused  to  surrender.  Thereupon 
I  hurried  to  the  old  ''Manchester  Depot"  opposite  to 
the  Market  street  dock  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
and  caught  the  train  for  Charleston  as  it  was  passing 
out.  I  described  that  trip  to  a  ISTew  York  audience 
in  1878  in  the  following  brief  sentences: 

"I  shall  never  forget  that,  after  a  night  of  great 
anxiety,  and  when  about  twenty  miles  from  the  city, 
just  as  the  first  gray  streaks  began  to  lighten  the  east- 


54  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

em  sky,  and  when  the  silent  swamps  were  wakened 
only  by  the  rumble  of  the  train,  there  was  distinctly 
heard  a  single  dull,  heavy  report  like  a  clap  of  distant 
thunder,  and  immediately  following  it  at  intervals  of 
a  minute  or  two,  that  peculiar  measured  throb  of  artil- 
lery which  was  then  so  new,  but  afterwards  became 
so  familiar  to  our  ears.  The  excitement  on  the  train 
at  once  became  intense,  and  the  engineer,  sympathiz- 
ing with  it,  opened  his  valves,  and  giving  free  rein  to 
the  iron  horse,  rushed  us  with  tremendous  speed  into 
the  historic  city. 

^'Springing  from  the  train  and  dashing  through  the 
silent  streets  we  entered  our  hotel  ascended  to  the 
roof,  and  there  I  experienced  sensations  which  never 
before  or  since  have  been  mine.  As  I  stepped  into 
the  cupola  and  looked  out  upon  that  splendid  harbor, 
there  in  the  center  of  its  gateway  to  the  sea,  half 
wrapped  in  the  morning  mist,  lay  Sumter,  and  high 
above  its  parapets,  fluttering  in  the  morning  breeze 
floated  proudly  and  defiantly  the  stars  and  stripes. 
In  a  moment  afterwards  just  above  it  there  was  a 
sudden  red  flash,  and  a  column  of  smoke,  followed 
by  an  explosion,  and  opposite  on  James  Island,  a 
corresponding  puff  floated  away  on  the  breeze,  and 
I  realized  with  emotions  indescribable  that  I  was 
looking  upon  a  civil  war  among  my  countrymen." 

Thenceforward  until  the  middle  of  August,  1864, 
I  was  a  Confederate  soldier,  without  any  record  worth 
mentioning,  but  at  that  time  my  health  was  com- 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddell,  56 

pletely  wrecked,   and  my  resignation  was  tendered 
and  accepted. 

The  yellow  fever  was  brought  to  Wilmington  by 
a  blockade  runner  in  September,  1862,  and  raged 
with  terrible  effect  for  two  or  three  months.  Hap- 
pening to  be  going  from  Richmond,  Va.,  to  Augusta, 
Ga.,  and  stopping  for  a  day  or  two  in  Wilmington, 
just  before  the  fever  broke  out,  and  hearing  that  a 
poor  fellow  named  Swarzman,  a  young  German,  was 
sick  and  alone,  I  called  at  his  room,  sat  by  his  bed- 
side and  tried  to  cheer  him,  holding  his  hand  in  the 
meantime.  I  observed  that  he  had  a  very  yellow 
appearance  and  supposed  he  had  jaundice.  After 
sitting  some  time,  I  bade  him  good  bye,  and  a  few 
hours  later  left  the  city  for  Augusta.  He  died  with 
black  vomit  within  forty-eight  hours,  and  his  was 
the  first  case  of  the  dreadful  scourge,  or  at  least  it 
was  the  first  recognized  case.  My  escape  was  a  sig- 
nal mercy,  and  there  was  cause  for  additional  grati- 
tude when  on  my  return  home,  which  was  delayed 
until  the  fever  had  disappeared,  a  dreadful  railroad 
accident  occurred  in  which  two  young  ladies  sitting 
immediately  behind  me  were  killed  and  every  person 
in  the  car  except  one  was  hurt,  while  I  crawled  out 
with  slight  injury.  The  railroad  was  in  a  very  di- 
lapidated condition — as  the  war  was  going  on  and  no 
means  of  repairing  it  was  available — and  the  engine 
*^jumped  the  track"  twice  after  the  accident,  the  last 
time  being  about  ten  miles  from  Wilmington,  where- 
upon, with  several  others  I  left  it  and  walked  to  town. 


56  Some  Memokies  of  My  Life. 

I  have  frequently  related  the  circumstances  attending 
this  fatal  accident  for  the  purpose  of  proving  that, 
according  to  mj  experience,  there  seldom  occurs  a 
tragedy  without  some  comic  incident.  In  this  case 
the  comic  incident  was  as  follows :  Provisions  of  all 
kinds  were  hard  to  get,  and  seeing  an  old  ''aunty" 
at  one  of  the  stations  with  a  box  of  ten  dozen  eggs, 
I  bought  them,  paying  her  five  (Confederate)  dollars 
per  dozen  for  them  and  placed  them  under  the  seat 
in  front  of  me  on  which  Mr.  James  Dawson,  of  Wil- 
mington, and  another  gentleman  were  sitting.  When 
the  accident  occurred  all  the  lights  in  the  car  were 
extinguished  and  the  night  being  very  dark,  it  was 
impossible  to  distinguish  persons.  Just  after  I 
crawled  out  of  the  wreck,  and  while  the  cries  and 
groans  of  the  victims  were  still  going  on,  a  feeble 
voice  cried,  ''Gentlemen,  I  am  bleeding  to  death." 
At  once  recognizing  the  voice  as  that  of  Dawson,  and 
expressing  the  hope  that  he  was  mistaken  he  replied, 
"]^o,  just  feel  my  head  and  my  clothes."  I  did  so, 
and  the  wet  and  slimy  clothes  certainly  seemed  to  ver- 
ify his  assertion.  About  that  time  a  lantern  wa3 
brought  by  the  conductor  (Harry  Brock)  and  the 
revelation  it  made,  in  spite  of  the  solemnity  of  the 
surroundings,  was  ludicrous  in  the  extreme.  My 
box  of  eggs,  when  the  car  turned  over^  had  fallen  on 
Dawson's  head  and  shoulders,  and  the  contents  were 
streaming  from  his  battered  hat — an  old  "stove-pipe" 
— and  from  hair  and  face  and  arms  in  a  yellow  cas- 


\ 


Alfred  Moore  Waddblli.  57 

cade.  His  change  of  expression  upon  the  discovery 
was  even  more  ridiculous  than  the  plight  he  was  in. 

I  was  still  an  invalid  when  the  army  under  Gen- 
eral Terry,  having  captured  Fort  Fisher,  marched 
into  Wilmington  on  the  22d  February,  1865.  Fortu- 
nately they  made  but  a  short  stay,  excepting  a  garri- 
son for  the  town,  and  thus  our  people  were  spared 
many  of  the  horrors  that  were  experienced  elsewhere 
by  the  people  of  captured  towns.  It  is  but  truth  to 
say  that,  with  a  few  exceptions,  the  officers  in  charge 
were  humane,  and  kindly  disposed,  and  some  of  them 
with  whom  I  became  acquainted  were  very  clever  gen- 
tlemen. Of  course  there  were,  as  is  always  the  case, 
some  laughable  incidents  attending  the  entry  of  the 
troops  into  the  town,  and  one  I  remember  was  the 
conduct  of  an  elderly  citizen — a  very  quiet  man — 
who  stood  on  a  street  corner  watching  the  column 
pass  without  a  word  or  sign  until  the  negro  troops, 
beside  whom  streamed  a  shouting  mass  of  ex-slaves, 
appeared.  Then  he  turned  away,  and  with  both 
hands  raised  and  an  indescribable  expression  of  min- 
gled horror  and  disgust  exclaimed,  "Blow,  Gabriel, 
blow,  for  God's  sake  blow!'' 

Although  not  a  participant  in  the  battle  of  Fort 
Fisher  (being  an  invalid  in  Wilmington),  I  wit- 
nessed during  the  progress  of  that  terrific  bombard- 
ment the  most  solemn  and  impressive  scene,  perhaps, 
in  my  experience. 

It  was  during  the  Sunday  morning  service  at  old 
St.  James  church,  when    a  large    congregation  was 


58  Some  Memories  of  My  Life, 

present,  nearly  all  the  women  of  whicli  were  in  deep 
mourning  for  dead  Confederate  soldiers,  and  profound 
gloom  and  anxiety  for  the  fate  of  those  engaged  in 
the  fight  overshadowed  the  hearts  of  all.  The  thun- 
der of  the  guns,  distinctly  audible  and  shaking  the 
atmosphere  like  jelly,  had  been  irregular  until  the 
Litany  was  read,  when  from  the  beginning  of  that 
solemn  service  to  its  conclusion  almost  simultane- 
ously the  responses  of  the  congi-egation  and  the  roar 
of  broadsides  united. 

^Trom  battle  and  murder,  and  from  sudden 
death,"  read  the  minister,  "Good  Lord,  deliver  us," 
prayed  the  congregation,  and,  simultaneously  "Boom 
— ^boom — boom,"  answered  the  guns  until  the  situa- 
tion was  almost  intolerable.  It  was  an  experience 
never  to  be  forgotten. 

After  the  capture  of  Wilmington  this  venerable 
church,  established  in  1738,  was  seized  by  order  of 
General  Hawley  for  a  military  hospital,  and  in  giv- 
ing an  account  of  it  the  rector.  Dr.  Watson  (after- 
wards Bishop  of  the  Diocese)  reported  to  the  Dio- 
cesan Convention  of  1866  as  follows: 

"This  was  not  the  first  calamity  of  the  sort  in  the 
history  of  the  Parish  Church  of  St.  James.  In 
1780,  during  the  occupation  of  Wilmington  by  the 
British  troops  the  church  was  stripped  of  its  pews 
and  furniture,  and  converted,  first  into  a  hospital, 
then  into  a  blockhouse,  and  finally  into  a  riding 
school  for  Tarleton's  dragoons.  In  1865  the  pews 
were  again  torn  out  with  pickaxes  *  *  *  *  There 


Alfked  Moore  Waddell..  59 

was  sufficient  room  elsewhere,  more  suitable  for  hos- 
pital purposes.  Other  hospitals  had  to  be  emptied  to 
supply  even  half  the  beds  in  the  church  which  were 
indeed,  never  much  more  than  half  filled." 

Upon  my  first  visit  to  Wilmington  it  was  my 
happy  fortune  to  be  made  known  to  Mr.  George  Da- 
vis, who  was  a  recognized  leader  of  the  bar,  and  the 
foremost  orator  and  cultured  gentleman  of  the  lower 
Cape  Fear  country.  We  were  of  the  same  blood,  on 
one  side,  though  distantly  related,  and  I  was  then, 
as  I  am  now,  proud  of  my  connection  with  such  a 
gentleman.  He  was  a  man  of  spotless  character,  a 
quiet  but  high  strung  gentleman  of  the  old  school, 
who  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  a  long  life  never 
swerved  a  hair's  breadth  from  his  convictions  of 
right  and  duty.  Bred  a  Whig  and  honestly  regarding 
the  preservation  of  the  Union — in  spite  of  the  defiant 
nullification  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  coun- 
try by  a  large  number  of  the  ISTorthern  States — as 
the  paramount  interest  of  the  American  people,  he 
was  selected  to  represent  the  State  in  the  Peace 
Conference  at  Washington  just  before  the  war.  Upon 
the  failure  of  that  patriotic  effort  to  save  the  Union, 
he  cordially  approved  the  secession  of  I^orth  Caro- 
lina when  Mr.  Lincoln  called  for  troops  from  the 
State  to  make  war  on  the  other  Southern  States,  and 
upon  the  organization  of  the  Confederacy  was  elected 
Senator  from  ISTorth  Carolina,  which  office  he  filled 
with  honor,  and  was  afterwards  appointed  by  Pres* 
ident  Davis    Attorney  General    of  the  Confederate 


60  Some  Memosies  of  My  Life. 

States,  in  which  position  he  remained  until  the  final 
surrender. 

Mr.  Davis  was  a  really  great  lawyer  of  large  at- 
tainments in  his  profession  and  wide  culture  outside 
of  it,  and  an  orator  of  the  first  order,  but  a  very  mod- 
est and  unassuming  man,  who  always  discounted  his 
own  abilities,  and  never  sought  preferment,  but  was 
content  to  devote  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  a  comparatively  obscure 
field,  although  he  was  oifered  the  position  of  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  his  State,  and 
could  have  enjoyed  similar  honors  if  he  had  been 
willing  to  accept  them.  He  was  one  of  the  last  and 
noblest  of  the  representatives  of  the  old  order  of 
Southern  lawyers  and  gentlemen  of  the  old  school, 
and  passed  to  his  reward  at  a  ripe  age  some  years 
ago. 

There  were  many  other  able  lawyers  practicing  at 
the  Wilmington  bar  at  that  time,  not  one  of  whom  is 
now  living,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  remember  that 
each  and  every  one  of  them  practiced  his  profession 
according  to  the  traditional  usages  and  principles  of 
the  olden  times,  and  felt  an  honorable  pride  in  do- 
ing so.  There  were,  as  a  matter  of  course,  some 
wits  and  wags  among  them  and  many  a  good  story 
has  been  lost  with  their  passing  away.  Only  a  law- 
yer can  appreciate  two  incidents  that  I  remember  as 
occurring  in  the  old  county  court-house.  An  old 
practitioner  who  had  not  long  before  come  from  an- 
other county  to  settle  in  Wilmington,  and  who  hap- 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddell.  61 

pened  that  morning  to  be  feeling  a  little  "salubrious," 
was  called  by  the  Judge  presiding,  a  very  dignified 
man,  and  requested,  as  the  Judge  was  occupied  with 
another  matter  to  administer  the  insolvent  debtor's 
oath  to  a  man  who  was  waiting  for  that  ceremony. 
The  man  had  never  been  in  court  in  his  life  and  was 
scared  half  to  death,  not  knowing  what  was  to  be 
done  to  him.  The  old  lawyer  beckoned  him  around 
to  the  Clerk's  desk,  looked  fiercely  at  him  and  said, 
''Take  the  book/'  With  trembling  hands  and  a  pit- 
eous countenance  he  did  so,  and  the  old  lawyer,  who 
was  too  far  from  the  Judge  to  be  heard,  administered 
the  oath  in  these  words:  ''You  solemnly  swear  that 

you  are  not  worth  a  d and  never  expect  to  be  V 

"I  do,  sir,"  said  the  frightened  man.  "Then  kiss  the 
book,"  and  the  lawyer  gravely  resumed  his  seat, 
while  the  insolvent  citizen,  relieved  of  all  financial 
anxieties,  went  his  way  in  peace.  The  other  inci- 
dent was  when  the  most  inveterate  wit  of  the  bar, 
answering  a  legally  impossible  statement  by  two  op- 
posing counsel,  said  he  had  no  right  to  be  surprised, 
as  he  understood  one  of  them  had  brought  an  action 
of  ejectment  in  another  county  on  a  lost  deed,  and 
the  other  had  defended  the  suit  under  a  nuncupative 
will — a  purely  technical  witticism  which,  as  I  have 
said,  only  a  lawyer  can  enjoy. 

As  a  finale  to  the  record  of  characters  whom  I  per- 
sonally knew  around  Wilmington  it  would  not  be  just 
to  omit  one  who  was  unique,  if  not  distinguished, 
in  my  early  recollections  of  the  town.     The  facts  in 


62  Some  Memorles  of  My  Life. 

regard  to  him,  as  given  here,  are  nearly  liter- 
ally true,  and  may  serve  to  illustrate  a  phase  of  our 
ante-bellum  civilization  which  is  not  familiar  to  the 
present  generation,  and  for  their  benefit  I  record 
them  in  the  following  form. 

Ganey — Mr.  Ganey,  as  he  preferred  to  be  called — 
was  a  curiosity;  one  of  those  half-witted  creatures 
who  occasionally  startle  us  with  an  observation  that 
sounds  uncomfortably  like  satire.  He  lived  in  a 
cabin  in  the  woods,  worked  sometimes,  when  obliged 
to,  in  the  surrounding  turpentine  forest,  but  sub- 
sisted chiefly  on  the  charity  of  the  neighboring 
planters.  Although  ''innocent  of  the  trammels  of 
spelling,"  and  as  superstitious  as  the  most  ignorant 
African,  he  regarded  himself  as  much  better  than 
his  poor  neighbors.  He  even  assumed  an  air  of 
familiarity — but  in  a  very  solemn  way — with  the 
gentlemen  to  whose  houses  he  paid  his  periodical 
begging  visits,  and  was  extremely  sensitive  to  any 
fancied  slight  on  such  occasions.  In  imitation  of 
them  he  thought  it  incumbent  on  him  to  carry  an 
umbrella,  and  wear  a  high  hat  and  gloves  of  some 
kind,  and  he  recognized  no  distinction  as  to  the  time 
when  this  was  to  be  done ;  so  that,  even  when  chip- 
ping turpentine  (by  an  act  of  trespass  on  some  plant- 
er's land)  he  might  sometimes  be  seen  arrayed  in  a 
cast-off  stove-pipe  hat  and  tattered  cotton  gloves,  and 
carrying  a  faded  umbrella  in  one  hand,  and  a  tur- 
pentine hacker  in  the  other.  He  liked  to  be  "mis- 
tered" when  spoken  to,  and  a  failure  to  so  dignify 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddei.1..  63 

him  was  sure  to  be  responded  to  by  a  similar  neglect 
to  attach  a  handle  to  the  name  of  the  person  thus 
addressing  him.  He  had  contracted  from  the  local 
pinej  woods  preachers  a  habit  of  droning  his  words 
through  his  nose,  and  of  adding,  with  an  indescrib- 
able emphasis,  "er"  to  every  third  or  fourth  one, 
without  regard  to  whether  it  was  a  proper  name  or 
not.  Strange  to  say,  too,  he  was — ^perhaps  from  an 
incapacity  to  appreciate  danger — absolutely  fearless. 
He  borrowed  a  gun  on  one  occasion  and  went  to  a 
public  gathering  to  demand  satisfaction  from  a  lead- 
ing and  wealthy  planter  for  some  alleged  indignity 
to  him.  When  asked  what  he  was  carrying  a  gun 
for,  he  replied  that  he  "a  totin'  it  for  that  wolf-er." 

''What  wolf  do  you  mean?'' 

"I  mean  that  Mc er,"  he  replied ;  and  the 

gentleman  referred  to  having  just  then  made  his  ap- 
pearance on  the  round,  Ganey  would  have  shot  him 
if  he  had  not  been  knocked  down  and  disarmed.  As 
soon  as  he  recovered  his  feet  he  attempted  a  second 
assault,  and  to  the  magistrate  who  seized  him  and 
commanded  the  peace  he  said: 

"You  git  out'n  the  way-er,  you's  a  Dimmycrat-er, 
an'  me  and  him's  both  Whigs-er." 

When  food  for  powder  was  getting  very  scarce  uar- 
ing  the  war  between  the  States  Ganey  was  con- 
scripted. He  had  escaped  service  up  to  that  time 
because  nobody  would  enlist  him,  but  they  took  him 
at  last.  He  was  not  afraid  of  the  fighting  that  was 
in  prospect,  but  he  did  have  a  mortal  aversion  to  be- 


64  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

ing  ordered  about  '^like  a  nigger/'  and  made  to  sleep 
on  the  ground,  and  go  hungry,  and  barefooted,  and 
ragged,  as  he  had  seen  some  of  the  soldiers  doing. 
So,  when  he  was  being  brought  into  town,  rigged  out 
in  his  old  stove-pipe  hat  and  cotton  gloves,  and  while 
crossing  a  deep  and  wide  stream  in  a  ferry  boat,  he 
suddenly  stepped  overboard,  to  the  astonishment  and 
dismay  of  the  guard,  and,  disappearing  for  a  moment, 
rose  again  serenly  to  the  surface  and  began  to  float 
off,  looking  like  a  bottle  with  a  long  stopper  in  it. 
He  was  rescued  and,  on  being  asked  how  he  man- 
aged to  float,  as  he  did  not  seem  to  try  to  swim,  re- 
plied : 

^^I  reckin  the  Lord  done  it-er — ^but  I  was  a'treadin' 
water-er." 

After  an  interview  with  the  conscript  officer,  dur- 
ing which  he  solemnly  swore  that  he  was  sixty-five 
years  old,  although  not  over  forty,  if  that,  it  was 
thought  best  to  put  him  in  the  Home  Guard,  and 
accordingly  he  was  furnished  with  an  old  musket 
and  sent  to  a  sea-coast  village  which  was  garrisoned 
by  a  Home  Guard  regiment  and  a  few  regular  troops. 
It  was  a  very  hot  day  and  the  road  was  through  deep 
sand  all  the  way.  After  trudging  for  two  or  three 
hours  along  this  road  he  at  last  arrived  in  the  village, 
and  upon  turning  a  corner  of  the  street  he  came  to  a 
house  with  a  wide  piazza  fronting  the  harbor,  and 
discovered  sitting  on  the  piazza  in  his  shirt-sleeves, 
reading  a  nswpaper  and  looking  exceedingly  com- 
fortable, an  elderly  gentleman  whom  he  at  once  recog- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  65 

nized  as  the  proprietor  of  a  large  plantation  in  the 
county  and  whom  he  had  often  seen  sitting  on  the 
county  court  bench.  He  immediately  halted,  brought 
his  old  musket  down  with  a  thud  in  the  sand,  wiped 
the  streams  of  perspiration  from  his  face  with  his 
sleeve,  and  without  other  salutation,  said: 

^'I'd  like  to  know  how  it  is-er,  that  we  poor  folks- 
er  has  to  come  a-walkin'  and  a-sweatin'-er  through 
the  sand-er,  for  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  country-er, 
and  you  swell  heads-er  is  a-settin'  on  your  piazzas 
a-keepin'  cool-er?'' 

^'Good  morning,  Ganey,"  said  the  gentleman,  with- 
out noticing  the  inquiry. 

"Good  mornin',  Green-er,''  replied  Ganey,  resent- 
ing the  neglect  to  "mister"  him,  "but  you  haint  an- 
swered my  question-er." 

"Well,  Ganey,  the  reason  I  am  sitting  here,  and 
don't  turn  out  with  the  soldiers  is  that  I  am  an  of- 
ficer of  the  regiment." 

"You  are  an  officer  of  the  regiment-er?  What  of- 
ficer are  you-er?" 

"I  am  the  Commissary." 

"You  are  the  Commissary-er  ?  What  is  a  Com- 
missary-er  ?" 

"A  Commissary  is  the  man  that  provides  rations 
for  the  troops — that  feeds  them." 

"A  Commissary  is  the  man-er  that  provides  ra- 
tions for  the  troops-er,  that  feeds  'em-er?  Well, 
what  are  we  gwine  to  have  for  dinner  to-day-er  ?" 

"Eeally^  I  don't  know,  Ganey." 
5 


66  Some  Memoeies  of  My  Life. 

*'You  don't  know-er?  Well,  you're  not  fittin'  to 
be  a  Commissarj-er ;  I'm  a-gwine  home-er." 

And  he  did  go  and  was  allowed  to  remain  there. 

One  of  Ganey's  peculiarities  was  his  inordinate 
fondness  for  ham,  which  he  conceived  to  be  the  most 
aristocratic  of  all  dishes,  and  sufhcient,  if  supple- 
mented by  wheat  bread,  to  satisfy  the  most  fastidious 
palate.  Bacon  in  any  other  form,  and  corn  bread, 
were  objects  of  his  special  contempt,  the  reason  be- 
ing that  those  articles  constituted  the  standard  dishes 
of  the  negroes  and  poor  whites.  jSTothing  short  of 
extreme  hunger  and  the  inability  to  get  other  food 
could  induce  him  to  eat  them.  For  a  ham,  however, 
and  some  flour  he  was  always  willing  to  sacrifice  his 
pride,  even  to  the  extent  of  working,  and  the  posses- 
sion of  these  articles  completely  filled  the  measure  of 
his  happiness,  and  brought  the  umbrella,  stove-pipe 
hat  and  gloves  into  continuous  use  while  the  larder 
held  out. 

The  progress  of  the  war,  however,  resulted  in  a 
steady  reduction  of  the  number  of  these  seasons  of 
happiness  for  him,  and  hams  became  correspondingly 
more  precious  in  his  sight. 

Finally,  when  all  was  over,  and  the  ISTorthem  sol- 
diers took  possession,  Ganey,  who  had  not  seen  a  ham 
in  a  long  time,  learned  that  the  Government  Com- 
missary in  town  was  distributing  rations  to  the  half- 
starved  people,  and  he  thereupon  started  for  the 
scene  of  action.  His  habiliments  were  more  pictur- 
esque than  ever.     His  head — ^which  looked  as  if  it 


ALiaiED  MooiiE  Waddell.  67 

had  been  driven  into  his  shoulders  with  a  force  that 
bent  them — was  covered  by  a  "bell-crown"  of  the 
year  1856,  and  his  clothes  consisted  of  a  threadbare 
and  shiny  "claw-hammer"  of  still  earlier  date,  which 
displayed  a  waist  of  excessive  length  and  a  tail  that 
appeared  to  have  begun  to  grow  out  of  it  but  had 
never  reached  maturity,  and  a  pair  of  baggy  cotton 
trousers.  Supplementing  these,  he  wore  a  pair  of 
gloves  which  suggested  a  compromise  between  mit- 
tens and  cavalry  gauntlets,  and  the  melancholy  re- 
mains of  a  pair  of  Confederate  shoes.  His  umbrel- 
la— originally  a  green  cotton  one,  now  colorless  ex- 
cept where  patched — was  used  as  a  walking  cane, 
and  with  the  rib  ends  tied  around  the  handle,  re- 
sembled a  ballo;)ii  in  the  first  stages  of  inflation. 
As  thus  arrayed,  and  walking  in  the  middle  of  the 
road  leading  to  town,  visions  of  ham — boiled  ham, 
fried  ham,  and  raw  ham — and  of  flour  in  barrels, 
sacks,  buckets,  or  cooked  as  bread,  floated  before  him 
and  quickened  his  gait.  He  did  not  "let  on"  to  any- 
body the  condition  of  his  mind  or  stomach,  but,  as 
he  afterwards  confessed,  he  did  "natally  hone  after 
ham  and  flour  vittles." 

Underlying  this  longing  appetite,  however,  there 
was  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  business  for 
which  he  had  started  to  town.  He  had  always  re- 
garded his  levy  of  contributions  on  the  surrounding 
planters  as  not  only  legitimate  but  as  a  sort  of  vested 
right  which  had  been  confirmed  by  long  acquiescence 
on  their  part  but  he  had  never  seen  any  "Yankees" — 


68  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

except  a  foraging  party,  who  were  not  engaged  in  dis- 
tributing charity — and,  being  uncertain  as  to  bow  he 
might  be  treated,  and  withal  a  little  shaky  generally 
in  regard  to  the  outcome  of  the  business,  he  insensibly 
slackened  his  pace  as  he  approached  the  ferry — the 
same  ferry  which  had  been  the  scene  of  his  floating 
exploit. 

There  was  a  guard  of  blue-coats  there,  who  were 
greatly  tickled  by  his  appearance,  and  who  chaffed 
him  a  little,  but  good-naturedly  sent  him  on  with  a 
word  of  encouragement,  at  which  his  spirits  began 
to  revive  rapidly.  At  last  he  reached  the  town  and 
meeting  a  citizen,  said: 

"Mister,  whur's  the  Commissary-er  ?" 

"At  that  large  store,  yonder,"  answered  the  man, 
pointing  to  a  building  into  and  out  of  which  persons 
were  passing,  and  then  laughing  in  spite  of  himself 
at  Ganey's  outlandish  rig. 

^NTow,  Ganey  did  not  know  the  name  of  the  Com- 
missary, and  was  therefore  entirely  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  he  bore  the  same  name  as  the  Commissary 
of  the  Home  Guard,  for  whose  knowledge  of  his  du- 
ties he  had  expressed  such  contempt. 

He  went  to  the  building  designated,  and  upon  en- 
tering saw  what  he  thought  was  the  most  entrancing 
sight  his  eyes  ever  rested  on.  An  apparently  count- 
less number  of  flour  barrels  were  piled  over  the  wide 
floors,  and  hams  by  the  hundred  were  hanging  up,  or 
scattered  around,  loose.  Women  and  children  were 
being  supplied  by  the  clerks  with  provisions  of  all 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddell.  69 

sorts,  and  the  rush  of  business  quite  bewildered  him. 
Several  young  men  of  the  town  had  been  employed 
by  the  Commissary  to  assist  in  the  work  of  distribu- 
tion, and  to  designate  the  most  needy  of  the  appli- 
cants for  assistance.  One  of  these  young  men  recog- 
nized Ganey  as  soon  as  he  came  in,  but  said  nothing, 
knowing  that  Ganey  did  not  remember  him,  even  if 
he  had  ever  seen  him  before,  and  having  heard  the 
story  of  his  conversation  with  the  Home  Guard  Com- 
missary, and  remembering  the  identity  of  the  names 
of  the  two  commissaries  he  at  once  resolved  to  have  a 
little  fun. 

Every  moment  of  his  stay  in  the  store  seemed  to 
enlarge  the  hollow  in  Ganey's  anatomy,  until  he  felt 
as  if  his  whole  interior  was  a  howling  wilderness. 
He  looked  and  ached,  going  farther  and  farther  into 
the  store  until  he  reached  a  point  in  front  of  the 
clerk,  when  the  latter  very  politely  inquired  what  he 
wished. 

"I  want  to  see  the  Commissary-er." 

^^You'll  have  to  send  in  your  name  before  he  will 
see  you,  he's  very  busy  just  now." 

^My  name's  Ganey-er,  George  Washington  Ganey- 
er." 

^^Ah !  Ganey 's  your  name,  is  it  ?  Then  you  are 
the  man  that  insulted  him,  and  told  him  he  was  a 
very  ignorant  Commissary  not  to  know  what  the  sol- 
diers were  going  to  have  for  dinner — and  all  that 
sort  of  thing.    What  do  you  want  to  see  him  for  ?" 

The  expression  on  Ganey's  face  was  indescribable. 

"He  told  us,"  added  the  clerk,  "that  you  would 


70  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

probably  come  in  for  a  little  help,  and  to  be  on  the 
lookout  for  you." 

^'Who  told  you-er  ?"  asked  Ganey,  with  a  wild 
look. 

"I  said  the  Commissary  told  us/^  answered  the 
clerk. 

^'The  Yankee  Commissary-er  ?" 

"Do  you  wish  to  insult  Captain  Green  again,  by 
calling  him  a  Yankee  V  said  the  clerk,  sharply. 

"Captain  Green-erV^ 

"Yes,  yes.  Captain  Green,  the  Commissary,  the 
man  that  provides  rations  for  the  troops,  that  feeds 
'em." 

Poor  Ganey !  The  hams  and  flour  barrels  seemed 
to  be  receding  from  his  gaze,  to  be  fading  in  the  dim 
distance  never  to  return,  while  the  figure  of  Captain 
Green,  sitting  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  with  a  newspaper 
in  his  hands  which  fluttered  in  the  breeze,  rose  up 
mockingly  between  him  and  this  vision  of  bliss.  His 
countenance  assumed  an  expression  ol  despair  which 
was  pitiful  to  see,  and  the  heart  of  the  clerk  failed 
him  in  presence  of  such  evident  suffering.  Finally 
he  said: 

"Mr.  Ganey,  Captain  Green  is  a  good,  kind  man, 
and  I'll  go  into  the  ofiice  and  see  him  for  you.  Per- 
haps he  will  not  be  hard  with  you." 

Back  again  came  the  vision,  slowly,  but  each  mo- 
ment more  distinctly,  until  the  world  seemed  to  him 
to  be  a  vast  plain  of  snow-white  flour,  studded  with 
golden  hams. 

"But  here  comes  the  Captain,  now,"   and  while 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  71 

Ganey  looked  anxiously  for  the  elderly  gentleman 
whom  he  knew,  a  fine  looking  young  man  walked  out 
towards  them  and  the  clerk,  addressing  him,  said : 

"Captain  Green,  this  is  Mr.  Ganey  who  wishes  to 
see  you,"  and  immediately  disappeared,  leaving  the 
two  confronting  each  other. 

The  Captain  thought  this  was  the  rarest  specimen 
of  a  native  he  had  yet  encountered,  and,  regarding 
him  for  a  moment  during  which  he  tried  hard  to  keep 
his  countenance,  he  said : 

"Well,  sir,  what  do  you  wish  to  see  me  about  ?" 

"Are  you  the  Commissary-er  ?" 

"Yes." 

"That  feller  told  me-er,  Capt'n  Green  were  the 
Commissary-er,"  said  Ganey,  with  IndigTiation. 

"Well,  that  was  right ;  I  am  Captain  Green." 

'Not  until  then  did  the  truth  dawn  on  Ganey,  and 
it  lifted  a  great  weight  from  his  heart.  He  looked 
around  upon  the  wealth  of  hams  and  flour  with  an 
inexpressible  longing,  and  then  said : 

"I  heerd  you  was  a-givin'  out-er  of  rations-er,  and 
I  come  to  git  some-er, — some  ham-er  and  flour-er," 
the  last  words  being  uttered  in  a  tone  of  almost  pa- 
thetic anxiety. 

"Were  you  in  the  rebel  army  ?"  asked  the  Captain. 

"They  tuck  me-er  for  the  Home  Guard-er,  but  I 
left  the  fust  day-er,"  quickly  answered  Ganey;  and 
he  felt  that  he  was  getting  closer  to  the  hams  and 
flour. 

"Because,"  said  the  Captain,  "w^e  reserve  the  best 
rations  for  the  rebel  soldiers  and  their  families." 


72  Some  Memoeies  of  My  Life. 

Ganey  almost  fainted,  and  the  entire  stock  of  hams 
and  flour  seemed  to  have  been  suddenly  snatched 
away  by  an  evil  spirit. 

In  despair  he  asked: 

^^What  d'ye  call-er  the  best  rations-er  V^ 

"Oh,  fresh  meats,  canned  meats  and  vegetables, 
sugar  and  coffee  and  the  like,"  answered  the  Captain. 

Ganey  had  never  seen  any  canned  meat  and  did 
not  know  what  the  phrase  meant,  but  he  hoped — 
Oh!  how  he  hoped  it  did  not  not  mean  ham.  So, 
with  almost  a  wail  in  his  voice,  he  asked  the  ques- 
tion, and,  upon  receiving  a  negative  answer,  the  vision 
re-appeared  to  him  with  more  vividness  than  ever, 
and  under  its  influence  he  almost  forgot  his  "ers"  in 
stating  his  case  and  the  necessity  of  ham  and  flour  to 
his  very  existence.  The  Captain  was,  as  the  clerk 
said,  a  good,  kind  man,  and  recognizing  the  situation 
he  overwhelmed  Ganey  with  astonishment  by  giving 
him  two  hams,  a  small  sack  of  flour  and  some  other 
things,  with  he  eagerly  seized  upon  and  started  off 
with,  merely  saying,  as  he  left : 

"I  wish  you  well-er.'' 

As  he  went  out  of  town,  fairly  staggering  under 
his  load,  he  met  the  Commissary  of  the  Home  Guard 
who  hailed  him  and  said : 

"Why,  Ganey,  you  must  have  been  to  see  the  Yan- 
kee Commissary." 

"Yes,  and  he  knows  what  I'm  gwine  to  have-er  for 
dinner  to-day-er!" 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  73 


CHAPTER  III. 

strange  Coincidences— Seal  of  Franklin  Literary  Society  of 
Randolph-Macon  College— Shipwreck  of  Capt.  Hugh  Wad- 
dell—The  Mary  Celeste,  John  William  Anderson,  Pilot. 

Strange,  and  even  startling,  coincidences  are  not 
uncommon  in  the  experience  of  most  persons.  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  in  mine  occurred  in  1873, 
as  follows:  An  invitation  to  deliver  the  annual  ad- 
dress before  the  Franklin  Literary  Society  of  Ean- 
dolph-Macon  College,  Va.,  reached  me  at  my  home 
in  Wilmington,  and  a  reply  accepting  it  was  mailed 
the  next  day,  after  which  my  little  boy,  returning 
from  school,  brought  me  something  which  he  said 
he  had  picked  up  while  playing  in  the  school-yard, 
and  asked  what  it  was.  It  was  a  circular  piece  of 
metal  covered  wath  rust  and  dirt,  and  to  gratify  his 
curiosity  I  took  the  trouble  to  clean  it  thoroughly 
when,  to  my  astonishment,  it  turned  out  to  be  a 
bronze  seal  bearing  on  one  side  the  legend,  ''Eripuit 
fulmen  coelo,  sceptrumque  tyrannis"  and  on  the  other 
side,  ''Franklin  Literary  Society,"  Eandolph-Macon 
College.  Of  course  the  incident  was  the  preface  to 
my  speech  when  delivered,  and  the  return  of  the  seal 
to  the  President  of  the  Society,  who  was  on  the  stage 
with  me,  followed  by  the  statement  of  Dr.  Duncan, 
the  President  of  the  College,  that  the  seal  had  been 
lost  for  twenty-five  years,  made  a  sensation. 

I  had  taken  my  little  boy  with  me  to  the  College, 
and  he  sat  far  back  in  the  audience.     After  the  exer- 


74  Some  Memob-ies  of  My  Life. 

cises  were  over,  I  asked  him  if  he  heard  any  comment 
from  any  one  in  the  audience  upon  the  recital  of  the 
incident,  to  which  he  replied,  that  a  man  seated  near 
him  said,  ''Oh,  that's  too  thin."  Well,  a  gentleman 
engaged  in  politics  can  not  expect  all  his  statements 
to  pass  unchallenged. 

One  of  the  most  extraordinary  experiences  of  this 
sort  that  ever  occurred  within  my  knowledge  (and 
concerning  which  a  private  letter,  written  at  the  time 
and  giving  the  particulars,  is  still  in  my  possession) 
was,  at  his  request,  furnished  to  Mr.  James  Sprunt, 
the  great  cotton  exporter  and  accomplished  writer  of 
Wilmington,  who  had  himself  been  through  a  similar 
experience,  and  he  published  the  story  about  fifteen 
years  ago  as  one  of  the  ''Tales  of  the  Cape  Fear 
Blockade"  in  The  Souihport  Leader,  and  with  his 
permission  it  is  here  reproduced: 

"On  the  second  day  of  February,  1834,  Mr.  John 
Waddell,  a  prominent  citizen  of  the  Cape  Fear,  the 
uncle  of  Col.  A.  M.  Waddell  and  of  Capt.  Hugh 
Waddell,  took  passage  for  himself  and  twenty-two  of 
his  slaves  in  the  American  Brig  Enconium  from 
Charleston,  S.  C,  for  New  Orleans,  it  being  Mr. 
Waddell's  purpose  to  cultivate  with  his  own  servants 
a  plantation  on  the  Bed  Biver  of  which  he  was  the 
owner.  When  about  two  days  out  from  Charleston, 
the  Enconium  encountered  a  gale  of  wind  which  in- 
creased to  a  hurricane,  carrying  away  sails  and  top- 
hamper,  and  straining  her  hull,  spars  and  rigging  so 
as  to  greatly  endanger  the  lives  of  those  on  board. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell,  75 

For  three  days  and  nights  the  sun  and  stars  were  to- 
tally obscured  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  determine 
by  observation  the  position  of  the  vessel,  which  was 
driven  by  the  wind  currents  they  knew  not  whither. 
The  perilous  condition  of  the  brig  increased  until 
about  the  sixth  day,  when  a  climax  was  reached  by 
her  stranding  at  night  upon  an  unknown  reef,  which 
subsequently  proved  to  be  near  Abaco,  one  of  the 
Bahama  Islands,  well  known,  many  years  after,  to 
all  the  blockade  runners  bound  to  and  from  l^assau 
and  Wilmington.  The  inhabitants  of  these  islands, 
and  especially  of  Abaco,  were  nearly  all  negroes,  who 
followed  the  profession  of  wreckers,  a  vocation  so  al- 
lied to  piracy  as  to  be  often  a  distinction  without  a 
difference.  Owing  to  the  roughness  of  the  sea,  or  to 
the  absence  of  the  natives  in  more  favorable  positions 
for  wreckage,  the  Enconium  remained  hard  and  fast 
on  the  reef  during  a  day  and  night,  without  any  pros- 
pect of  relief  or  rescue  from  the  breakers,  which 
threatened  every  moment  to  destroy  her,  and  engulf 
the  wretched  passengers,  who  clung  to  the  wreck  in  an 
agony  of  despair,  straining  their  eyes  in  every  direc- 
tion for  help.  At  last  a  passing  Bahama  schooner 
hove  to,  and  after  infinite  risk  and  labor,  landed  the 
Enconiurn  s  people  on  Abaco,  and  then  proceeded  to 
save  as  much  of  the  cargo  as  possible. 

^^The  rescuer  proved  to  be  a  wrecking  vessel,  en- 
tirely out  of  her  usual  track,  commanded  by  a  white 
man  of  extraordinary  intelligence,  who  informed  Mr. 
Waddell  that  the  position  of  the  Enconium  was  so 


76  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

remote  from  the  usual  wrecking  ground,  they  would 
in  all  probability  have  perished,  had  he  not,  by  a 
mere  chance,  been  sailing  in  that  vicinity.  After 
some  delay  on  the  island,  a  vessel  was  chartered  by 
the  Captain  of  the  wrecked  brig  to  take  his  passen- 
gers and  crew  to  Nassau,  where,  immediately  upon 
their  arrival  in  the  harbor,  they  were  prohibited  by 
the  authorities  from  landing,  and  from  holding  any 
intercourse  with  the  shore.  Being  destitute  of  pro- 
visions however,  they  entreated  the  Governor  for  per- 
mission to  refit  and  proceed  towards  their  destina- 
tion, instead  of  Avhich  they  were  ordered  to  lie  under 
the  guns  of  a  British  man-of-war  on  that  station,  un- 
til their  case  could  be  investigated.  On  the  follow- 
ing day,  orders  were  given  to  land  the  entire  com- 
pany. Immediately  after  this  was  effected,  the  negro 
slaves  were  declared  free  by  the  Governor,  and  the 
men  given  the  choice  of  joining  the  negro  regiment 
then  on  garrison  duty,  or  of  obtaining  other  employ- 
ment on  shore.  In  vain  Mr.  Waddell  protested 
through  the  American  Consul,  against  this  extraor- 
dinary proceeding,  which  he  characterized  as  an  out- 
rage upon  the  rights  of  an  American  citizen.  The 
Governor  was  obdurate,  and  upon  Mr.  Waddell's  at- 
tempt to  recover  and  re-ship  his  slaves,  threatened 
to  hang  him  forthwith  if  he  did  not  desist.  It  ap- 
pears that  none  of  the  slaves  volunteered  to  return 
with  their  former  master,  being  attracted  to  their 
new-found  liberty  by  the  agreeable  climate,  the  ease 
and  idleness  of  the  vagrant  negro  inhabitants,  and 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  '7T 

doubtless  by  a  lively  recollection  of  the  horrors  of 
the  sea,  from  which  they  had  been  so  happily  de- 
livered. Mr.  Waddell  therefore  returned  by  the 
first  opportunity  to  the  Cape  Fear,  a  sadder  and  a 
wiser  man.  He  subsequently  recovered  through  the 
United  States  Government  a  part  of  the  value  of  the 
lost  property  from  the  British  Crown. 

''Twenty-seven  years  after,    and    during  the  first 
year  of  the  late  Civil  War,  a  nephew  of  Mr.  John 
Waddell,  Capt.  Hugh  Waddell,  now  of  Washington, 
D.  C,  while  on  the  staff  of  General  Clingman,  be- 
came weary  of  the  tedium  and  restraint  of  camp  life 
and  obtained  a  furlough,  with  permission  to  take  a 
trip  to  the  West  Indies,  through  the  Federal  Block- 
ade.   His  father,  the  late  Hon.  Hugh  Waddell,  and 
his  mother,  were  living  in  Pittsboro,  N.  C,  at  that 
time,  and  thither  he  proceeded,  ha^ang  engaged  pas- 
sage on  one  of  the  blockade  running  steamers  then 
preparing  for  departure  at  Charleston,  for  ISTassau. 
During  this  family  reunion,  his  pleasurable  anticipa- 
tions were  occasionally  marred  by  the  apprehensions 
of  his  devoted  mother,  who,  while  avowing  her  wil- 
lingness to  give  him  up  for  his  country's  defense, 
viewed   with   much    alarm   his    proposed    adventure 
through  the  blockade,  which  seemed  fraught  with  un- 
necessary dangers.     Of  these  forebodings    he  made 
sport  at  first,  but  was  so  touched  by  his  mother's  dis- 
tress at  parting,  and  especially  by  a  letter  from  her 
which  reached  him  just  before  the  vessel  sailed,  that 
he  decided  to  abandon  the  voyage,  and  forfeit  the 


78  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

passage  money  if  necessary.  The  boat  which  was 
waiting  to  take  him  on  board,  was  accordingly  sent 
back  for  the  luggage,  which  had  preceded  him,  and 
Capt.  Hugh  Waddell  returned  at  once  to  his  duties. 

"The  frail  steamer,  upon  which  his  passage  had 
been  engaged,  proceeded  through  the  blockade,  en- 
countered a  gale  at  sea,  and  went  down  w^th  all  on 
board.  Hastily  constructed,  and  criminally  unsafe, 
designed  for  space  and  speed,  without  any  regard 
for  the  unfortunate  lives  on  board,  this  cockle  shell 
of  a  boat  was  a  type  of  many  others  which  went  to 
the  bottom  during  the  four  years  war.  It  was  my 
misfortune,  some  months  later,  to  pass  three  of  the 
most  miserable  days  and  nights  of  a  lifetime  on 
board  a  similar  vessel — waterlogged  and  helpless, 
upon  a  raging  sea,  from  which  we  were  rescued  at 
last  as  by  a  miracle. 

"It  is  remarkable  that  Captain  Waddell's  desire  to 
run  the  blockade  did  not  die  with  his  first  attempt. 
After  a  few  more  months  of  service  in  the  field,  he 
felt  an  irrepressible  longing  for  the  sea,  and  again 
obtained  the  desired  permission — this  time  by  way 
of  Savannah,  Ga.,  but  did  not  inform  his  family  of 
his  intention.  Accordingly,  he  joined  some  pilots 
in  fitting  out  a  small  schooner,  upon  which,  with  a 
venture  of  a  few  bales  of  cotton  as  cargo,  they  cau- 
tiously approached  the  bar,  and  found  it  so  closely 
guarded  by  the  Federal  cruisers,  that  a  whole  month 
was  spent  in  ineffectual  efforts  to  pass  them.  At 
last,  on  the  19th  of  December,  1861,  a  bold  attempt 


Alfred  Mooee  Waddei.l.  79 

on  a  favorable  wind  was  successful,  although  they 
were  obliged  to  sail  Avithin  a  hundred  yards  of  the 
blockaders ;  and  when  morning  dawned  they  found 
themselves  out  of  sight  of  land,  with  a  clear  horizon. 
The  first  two  days  passed  pleasantly  enough,  with  a 
fair  breeze  and  no  hostile  sail  in  sight,  but  the  morn- 
ing of  the  third  day  broke  with  heavy  rains  and 
high  v/ind,  increasing  in  fuiy  for  two  days,  during 
which,  in  consequence  of  bad  navigation,  they  drifted 
far  to  the  westward,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  night, 
to  the  horror  of  all  on  board,  ran  into  the  breakers 
off  ^'Little  Joe's  Cay"  on  the  Bahama  banks,  and 
pounded  with  great  force  upon  the  bottom. 

'^Captain  Waddell  w^as  asleep  in  the  cabin  when 
this  occurred,  and  was  roughly  awakened  by  the 
shock  which  pitched  him  against  the  side  of  the  vessel 
as  she  keeled  over  in  the  surf.  Immediately  after- 
wards he  heard  the  terrified  Captain  on  deck  kick 
open  the  hatchway  and  shout  ^come  out,  boys,  come 
out,  we  are  lost.'  In  a  subsequent  letter  to  his  mother, 
Captain  Waddell  said,  'I  crawled  out  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, without  hat  or  coat,  and  such  a  sight  I  trust  I 
may  never  behold  again.  The  breakers  were  running 
mountain  high,  and  it  was  as  dark  as  pitch,  and  all 
we  could  see  was  the  white  caps  on  the  waves  as  they 
rolled  by  and  over  us.  The  vessel  was  in  a  moment 
covered  with  water  and  lying  on  one  side,  from  which 
she  was  raised  by  every  breaker  and  carried  forward 
about  half  a  length,  to  be  cast  down  on  the  rocks  with 


80  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

such  violence  as  nearly  to  cmsli  her  to  pieces.'  Dur- 
ing this  fearful  night  everything  aloft  and  below 
was  swept  away,  except  a  small  boat  swung  in  the 
davits  and  the  six  desperate  men  who  clung  to  the 
rail  and  to  the  stumps  of  the  masts  as  best  they 
could.  The  hull  proved  to  be  staunch  and  true  to 
the  last.  Each  succeeding  wave  sent  them  higher 
upon  the  reef,  until  a  fearful  roller  lifted  them  on 
its  crest  and  dashed  them  with  such  force  upon  a 
coral  bed  that  the  vessel  was  broken  nearly  in  twain, 
and  the  stern  sank,  leaving  the  bow  on  the  reef,  with 
the  hapless  crew  clinging  to  the  bowsprit  and  broken 
cordage. 

^When  day  dawned  they  saw  land  about  four 
miles  off,  and  having  saved  the  small  boat  in  a  dam- 
aged condition,  the  Captain  and  two  men  undertook 
at  greater  risk  to  their  lives,  to  make  for  the  shore, 
and,  if  possible,  obtain  assistance  for  the  rescue  of 
those  remaining  on  the  wreck  and  hanging  to  the 
bowsprit,  which  was  the  only  part  above  water.  Be- 
fore leaving  them,  the  Captain  had  little  hope  of 
reaching  the  land ;  the  small  boat  being  unseaworthy, 
and  liable  to  sink  at  any  moment.  Nevertheless,  he 
said,  they  could  but  die  if  they  remained,  and  he 
would  prefer  dying  in  an  attempt  to  save  his  ship- 
mates as  well  as  himself.  In  a  few  minutes  the  lit- 
tle boat  was  out  of  sight,  the  waves  still  rolling  fear- 
fully high.  Hours  passed  without  relief  to  the  poor 
fellows  on  the  wreck;  the  night  came,  and  with  it 
increasing  danger    from    exhaustion.     At    daybreak 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  81 

the  three  heroic  fellows  were  still  clinging  to  the 
wreck,  but  their  faces  were  drawn  and  haggard  with 
despair  as  they  vainly  turned  to  each  other  for  en- 
couragement. When  the  tide  fell,  it  left  enough  of 
the  bow  above  water  upon  which  they  could  huddle 
together,  and  Waddell  soon  fell  asleep,  from  which 
he  was  shortly  awakened  by  the  sea  breaking  over 
his  feet.  When  the  tide  turned  they  were  obliged 
to  climb  out  upon  the  bowsprit,  but  not  until  they 
had  knelt  down  in  the  water  and  commended  their 
souls  to  God,  believing  that  the  end  was  at  hand. 
Captain  Waddell  had  been  upon  the  bowsprit  about 
an  hour  when,  resting  his  head  upon  a  rope,  he  again 
fell  asleep  for  a  few^  minutes,  when  he  suddenly 
awoke  and  said  to  the  man  nearest  to  him :  ^I  have 
had  a  strange  dream ;  I  dreamed  that  a  sail  appeared 
over  yonder,  and  gradually  the  hull  of  a  white 
schooner  arose,  which  sailed  straight  for  us  and  hove 
to  within  speaking  distance,  after  which  she  lowered 
a  small  boat  painted  green  and  white,  which  ap- 
proached us  rapidly,  but  on  coming  near  changed 
its  course  and  steered  for  the  sunken  stern  of  the 
wreck  and  swinging  around  to  the  bow,  hailed  us  in 
these  words:  "Hand  me  down  that  young  man  in 
the  middle  first,"  referring  to  me.'  The  companion 
to  whom  he  told  his  dream  turned  his  face  sadly 
away  saying  he  wished  to  God  it  would  come  true. 
About  an  hour  after,  when,  parched  with  thirst,  and 
weak  from  exposure  and  hunger,  they  were  almost 
wishing  for  death,  one  of  the  unfortunate  men  asked 


82  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

if  an  object  which  he  saw  in  the  distance  was  not 
a  light  house,  whereupon  another  turned  his  eyes 
around  and  looked,  and  in  a  moment  cried  out  ^It  is 
a  sail.'  He  continued  looking  for  a  few  moments, 
and  then  turned  to  the  others  and  burst  out  crying, 
exclaiming,  ^we  are  saved,  we  are  saved.'  They  all 
then  fell  to  weeping,  like  little  children,  and  as  the 
vessel  approached  nearer  they  saw  to  their  amaze- 
ment that  it  was  the  same  as  described  in  Waddell's 
dream.  The  sails  were  soon  furled  and  a  small  boat 
painted  green  and  white  lowered,  which  came  rapidly 
towards  them,  when  one  of  the  men,  lifting  his  hand 
reverently,  exclaimed,  'My  God,  it  is  all  just  as  Wad- 
dell  dreamt;  let  us  watch  and  see  if  the  rest  will 
come  true !'  When  within  a  few  yards  of  the  wreck, 
the  small  boat  swept  around  the  stern,  and,  coming 
towards  the  bowsprit,  the  steersman  shouted :  'Thank 
God,  you  are  saved!  Hand  me  down  that  young 
man  in  the  middle,  first'  Their  joy  at  deliverance 
was  complete  when  they  learned,  in  a  few  moments, 
that  their  friends  who  had  gone  in  search  of  assist- 
ance, had  drifted  out  to  sea,  and  that  the  schooner 
had  picked  them  up  and  then  hastened  to  rescue 
those  who  were  still  clinging  to  the  wreck.  When 
they  reached  the  schooner  the  three  friends  who  had 
gone  off  for  help  were  eagerly  waiting  at  the  rail  to 
congratulate  them,  and  when  they  climbed  on  board 
there  were  six  strong  men  embraced  in  each  other's 
arms,  weeping  as  if  their  hearts  would  break.  'Not 
having  had  a  mouthful  to  eat  or  drink  in  about  four 


Ai^FKED  MooKE  Waddejll.  83 

days,  thej  all  fell  to  eating  potatoes,  which  was  the 
only  food  on  board,  and  made  a  very  hearty  meal. 
Exhaustion  then  overtook  them,  and  they  became 
completely  prostrated.  The  men  who  rescued  them 
were  wreckers  by  profession,  and  they  succeeded  in 
recovering  from  the  wreck  a  part  of  the  cargo. 

'^Waddell's  party  in  the  meantime  obtained  shel- 
ter on  shore  at  the  house  of  the  Captain,  Matthew 
Lowe,  until  the  schooner  was  ready  to  take  them  to 
her  destination,  Green  Turtle  Cay,  (where,  strange- 
ly enough,  the  writer  was  shipwrecked  two  years 
later,  and  had  to  remain  in  a  negro  hut  for  three 
weeks  waiting  for  deliverance.)  Captain  Waddell  had 
then  an  opportunity  of  examining  the  surrounding 
country,  which  he  found  to  be  entirely  destitute  of 
both  food  and  fresh  water ;  it  was,  in  fact,  nothing 
more  than  an  immense  mass  of  coral.  Their  rescuer, 
Captain  Lowe,  told  them  that  it  was  the  first  time  he 
had  been  in  that  legion  for  about  two  weeks,  and 
that  their  escape  was  a  miracle.  In  the  evening, 
while  they  were  all  sitting  around  the  fire,  an  old 
lady,  who  was  one  of  the  household,  told  them  of 
many  notable  wrecks ;  among  which  she  said  was 
the  case  of  one  John  Waddell,  who  was  wrecked 
more  than  25  vears  before,  about  eiffht  miles  off, 
with  a  number  of  slaves,  who  were  subsequently 
liberated  at  I^assau.  She  said  that  her  husband, 
the  brother  of  Captain  Waddell's  rescuer,  had  saved 
John  Waddell,  who  was  the  kindest  gentleman  she 


84  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

had  ever  met.  When  she  learned  that  she  was  speak- 
ing to  the  nephew  of  John  Waddell,  and  that  he  had 
been  saved  from  shipwreck,  under  almost  precisely 
the  same  circumstances,  and  by  one  of  the  two 
brothers,  she  was  greatly  astonished,  because,  she 
said,  there  were  hundreds  of  wreckers,  and  nearly 
three  hundred  miles  of  reefs  and  bays,  along  the  Ba- 
hamas. 

"In  a  few  days  the  party  was  conveyed  via  Green 
Turtle  Cay  to  ISTassau  where,  twenty-seven  years  be- 
fore, the  uncle  had  also  landed  in  distress.  Captain 
Waddell  soon  found  Southern  friends  and  sympa- 
thizers, who  speedily  supplied  his  wants,  and  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Royal  Victoria  Hotel,  a  well  kno\\Ti 
hostelry  to  the  present  day.  There  he  registered  his 
name,  and  the  clerk  called  a  bell  boy,  saying,  'Show 
Mr.  Waddell  to  his  room,'  whereupon  an  old  negress, 
who  was  scrubbing  the  floor,  looked  quickly  up,  with 
•Whut  is  yo'  name,  sah  ?'  When  she  learned  upon 
further  inquiry  that  he  was  from  Wilmington,  she 
was  greatly  pleased  and  interested,  and  informed  him 
that  she  was  one  of  the  former  slaves  of  his  imcle, 
whom  he  had  left  on  the  island  so  many  years  ago. 

"Some  weeks  later.  Captain  Waddell  sailed  for  the 
Georgia  coast  in  a  small  vessel  laden  with  salt.  They 
were  in  the  gulf  stream,  'hove  to,'  for  five  days,  in 
a  fearful  storm,  the  worst  known  in  many  years; 
but  they  succeeded  in  running  through  the  blockade 
without  injury,  although  they  passed  so  near  to  six 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddeli^  86 

blockaders  at  night,  that  they  could  distinguish  a 
man  smoking  on  deck. 

^^The  foregoing  narrative  is  not  only  a  true  story, 
but  many  of  the  minor  incidents  which  might  make 
it  one  of  the  most  remarkable  records  of  the  war 
times,  have  been  forgotten,  and  only  the  main  facts 
have  been  gleaned  from  old  letters,  and  from  conver- 
sations with  members  of  the  family  referred  to." 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  narrative  of  a 
blockade-running  venture  it  will  n6t  be  inappropriate 
to  recite  another  case  which,  although  it  did  not  in- 
volve any  coincidences,  splendidly  illustrated  the  he- 
roism and  fidelity  to  duty  of  a  Cape  Fear  pilot. 

Among  these  blockade-runners  in  1863  was  a 
steamer  called  the  Mary  Celeste.  Her  pilot  was  John 
William  Anderson,  of  Smithville,  and  he,  like  all 
the  best  pilots,  was  as  familiar  with  the  channels 
over  the  bars,  both  at  New  Inlet  (where  Fort  Fisher 
stood  and  which  is  now  closed)  and  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river,  as  a  farmer  is  with  the  roads  over  his 
land.  One  night,  in  the  month  of  August,  1863, 
Anderson  took  the  Mary  Celeste  out  over  ISTew  Inlet 
Bar,  and  gliding  past  the  blockading  fleet,  v/hich  was 
always  watching  for  such  valuable  prizes,  escaped 
under  cover  of  the  darkness  and  reached  Nassau  in 
safety.  He  only  escaped  one  danger  to  run  into  a 
more  fearful  one.  Yellow  fever  was  raging  there, 
and  the  victims  of  that  scourge  were  most  numerous 
among  the  sailors  and  other  non-residents.  Ander- 
son was  stricken  with  the  fever  just  before  the  Mary 


86  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

Celeste  weighed  anchor  for  her  return  voyage,  and  bv 
the  time  she  neared  the  North  Carolina  coast  it  was 
evident  he  must  die. 

An  entrance  through  the  blockading  fleet  could,  of 
course,  only  be  made  between  sunset  and  sunrise, 
and,  as  Anderson  was  the  only  Cape  Fear  pilot  on 
board,  great  anxiety  prevailed  as  to  the  safety  of  the 
ship.  At  last  the  critical  hour  arrived  when,  in  the 
uncertain  light  of  the  dawn,  they  found  that  they 
had  run  near  a  blockader  and  had  been  seen  by  her. 
The  blockader  opened  fire  on  the  Mary  Celeste  and 
pursued  her.  Like  a  scared  greyhound  she  made 
straight  for  New  Inlet  Bar,  then  visible  several 
miles  away,  and  after  her  steamed  the  blockader, 
from  whose  bow  gun  every  few  minutes  would  leap  a 
flame,  followed  by  a  shell  which  would  pass  over  or 
through  her  rigging  and  burst  in  the  air,  or,  striking 
the  sea,  would  flash  a  great  column  of  spray  towards 
the  sky.  By  this  time  poor  Anderson  was  dying  be- 
low in  his  berth,  and  the  officers  of  the  ship  began  to 
realize  the  terrible  situation  in  which  they  found 
themselves,  with  the  enemy  in  pursuit  and  before 
them  a  bar  over  which  it  was  almost  certain  destruc- 
tion for  any  one  aboard  except  Anderson  to  attempt 
to  steer  the  Mary  Celeste.  Anderson  heard  the  fir- 
ing and  knew  what  it  meant  before  they  told  him. 
He  knew,  too,  that  he  was  dying  and  had  no  further 
interest  in  this  world's  affairs,  but  the  sense  of  duty 
asserted  itself  even  in  the  presence  of  death. 

He  was  too  weak  to  go  up,  but  he  demanded  to  be 


Alfeed  MoofiE  Waddell.  87 

taken  on  deck  and  carried  to  the  man  at  the  wheel. 
Two  strong  sailors  lifted  him  and  carried  him  up  to 
the  wheelhouse.  They  stood  him  on  his  feet  and 
supported  him  on  either  side.  His  face  was  as  yel- 
low as  gold,  and  his  eyes  shone  like  stars.  He  fixed 
his  unearthly  gaze  upon  the  long  line  of  breakers 
ahead,  then  upon  the  dim  line  of  pines  that  stood 
higher  than  the  surrounding  forest,  then  at  the  com- 
pass for  a  moment,  and  then  said  calmly,  "Hard 
starboard!"  Quick  revolved  the  wheel  under  the 
hands  of  the  helmsman;  slowly  veered  the  stem  of 
the  rushing  steamer,  and  a  shell  hurtled  over  the 
pilot-house  and  went  singing  toward  the  beach. 

Anderson  kept  his  gaze  fixed  on  the  breakers,  and 
in  the  same  calm  tone  said,  "Steady."  On  ploughed 
the  steamer  straight  for  her  goal,  while  the  group  of 
men  in  the  pilot-house  stood  in  profound  silence,  but 
fairly  quivering  with  suppressed  excitement.  The 
blockader,  now  seeing  that  it  was  impossible  to  over- 
take her  and  not  desiring  to  come  within  range  of  the 
big  guns  of  Fort  Fisher,  abandoned  the  chase  with  a 
farewell  shot,  and  the  Mary  Celeste,  now  nearly  on 
the  bar,  slacked  her  pace  a  little,  and  nothing  but 
the  swash  of  the  sea  and  the  trembling  thud  of  the 
ship  under  the  force  of  the  engine  could  be  heard. 
The  dying  pilot,  though  failing  fast,  continued  in 
the  same  calm  tone  to  give  his  directions.  They  were 
now  crossing  the  bar  but  had  passed  the  most  dan- 
gerous point,  when  he  bent  his  head  as  if  to  cough, 
and  the  horrified  men  saw  that  last  fatal  symptom 


88  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

which  immediately  preceded  dissolution — black  vom- 
it— and  knew  that  the  end  was  very  near.  He  knew 
it,  too,  but  gave  no  sign  of  fear  and  continued  at 
his  post.  His  earthly  home  was  now  visible  to  his 
natural  eye — he  was  almost  there  where  loved  ones 
awaited  his  coming — but  nearer  still  to  his  spiritual 
vision  was  the  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens.  At  last  the  bar  was  safely  crossed, 
smooth  water  was  reached,  the  engine  slowed  down, 
the  Mary  Celeste  glided  silently  into  the  horbor, 
stopped  her  headway  gradually,  lay  still,  loosed  her 
anchor  chains,  dropped  her  anchor,  and  as  the  last 
loud  rattle  of  her  cable  ceased,  the  soul  of  John  Wil- 
liam Anderson  took  its  flight  to  the  im.discovered 
country. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  89 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A  Post-Bellum  Military  Tribunal— Artemus  Ward— Vienxtemps 
and  Ole  Bull— Lord  Lytton's  Play— The  Commander  of  the 
Shenandoah— Foster,  "Medium." 

Although  the  war  did  not  end  with  the  capture  of 
AVilmington,  but  continued  for  two  months  longer, 
it  was  practically   completed,    and  the   final   result 
was  recognized  as  inevitable  by  all  intelligent  per- 
sons, and  the  thought  uppermost  in  every  mind  was: 
A¥hat  next  ?     It  is  not  my  purpose  to  recite  the  pub- 
lic events  which  made  up  the  history  of  that  period, 
but  rather  to  recall  some  incidents  that  came  under 
my  personal  observation.     The  first  one  occurred  a 
day  or  two  after  the  occupation  of  the  town,  when 
at  the  dinner  hour  (corn  bread  and  bacon)  I  heard 
a  crash  and  a  scream  on  my  back  piazza,  and  hurry- 
ing out  found  a  terrified  servant  girl,  a  lot  of  smashed 
crockery  and  scattered  bread  and  meat,  and  a  young, 
half-drunk  Yankee  soldier  standing  against  the  rail- 
ing.    To  my  demand  for  an  explanation  of  his  pres- 
ence he  said  he  didn't  want  any  rebel  insolence — 
that  that  sort  of  thing  was  played  out — ^whereupon  I 
took  him  by  the  collar,  led  him  around  to  the  front 
door,  and  told  him  to  leave  and  not  return,  which, 
to  my  surprise,  he  did. 

Not  long  afterwards  one  of  the  pilots  at  Smith- 
ville  (now  Southport)  was  arrested  on  the  charge, 
I  think,  of  having  been  a  blockade-runner,  and  was 
brought  to  Wilmington  and  put  in  jail.     He  sent  for 


&0  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

me  and  upon  my  arrival  said  he  was  not  well,  didn't 
know  why  he  was  arrested,  and  was  extremely  anx- 
ious to  get  back  to  his  family.  I  had  noticed  particu- 
larly an  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Northern  troops, 
who  was  evidently  a  young  doctor  from  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, and  whose  whole  appearance  and  manner  im- 
pressed me  with  the  idea  that  he  w^ouldn't  object  to 
supplementing  his  pay  by  a  little  outside  practice. 
In  addition  to  his  eager  and  restless  countenance  I 
observed  that  his  coat  sleeve  didn't  cover  his  wrist 
and  that  he  had  hands  and  fingers  of  enormous 
length  which  suggested  a  large  capacity  for  reaching 
after  things.  Remembering  this  gentleman,  I  asked 
the  pilot  if  he  had  any  money  on  his  person.  He 
said  he  did  and  produced  quite  a  sum. 

I  told  him  there  was  only  one  chance  and  that  was 
to  get  a  surgeon's  certificate  that  he  was  ill  and 
would  die  if  kept  in  jail,  and  that  could  not  be  asked 
for  without  offering  to  pay  for  it.  He  readily  caught 
my  plan,  and  offered  all  his  money.  Taking  fifty 
dollars,  I  went  to  find  the  surgeon,  and  apologized 
for  intruding  on  him,  but  said  a  friend  of  mine  was 
under  arrest  for  some  unknown  cause,  and  was  in 
jail  and  claimed  to  be  ill — that  my  friend  had  no 
right  to  call  on  an  army  surgeon  for  his  services 
but  if  he  would  kindly  visit  the  prisoner,  and  could 
consistently  with  his  duty,  certify  that  he  was  too 
ill  to  be  confined  and  ought  to  be  at  once  released 
it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  hand  him  the 
fifty  dollars  which  T  held  in  my  hand.     The  effect 


Alfred  Mookb  Waddell.  91 

was  magical.  I  had  hardly  finished  before  he  was 
out  of  his  chair  and  on  his  way  to  the  door  with  his 
hat  on.  In  about  fifteen  minutes  he  returned  and 
said  the  pilot  was  very  ill  and  would  die  if  kept 
where  he  was,  and  that  he  had  given  the  necessary 
certificate  and  arranged  for  his  immediate  discharge 
— whereupon  with  a  grave  face  I  handed  over  the 
cash  with  thanks,  and  soon  saw  the  pilot  on  his  way 
home  as  well  as  he  ever  was. 

Was  there  anything  morally  wrong  on  my  part 
in  that  transaction? 

There  were  no  courts  in  the  State  at  that  time  but 
lawyers  had  some  opportunity  to  earn  a  living  by 
drawing  petitions  for  pardon  and  deeds  for  the  trans- 
fer of  real  estate  and  other  commercial  transactions, 
and  being  for  a  while  the  only  lawyer  left  in  Wil- 
mington, I  managed  to  get  a  living. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  situation,  traijic  and 
alarming  at  the  time,  but  really  a  farce  so  far  as  the 
law  and  the  Constitution  were  concerned,  two  citi- 
zens of  Bladen  County  who  had  been  arrested  by  the 
military  authorities  for  a  murder  alleged  to  have 
been  committed  during  the  war  and  before  the  Fed- 
erals had  occupied  Wilmington,  and  were  arraigned 
for  trial  before  a  military  court  (whether  called  a 
Commission  or  Court-Martial  I  don't  remember)  in 
Wilmington,  employed  me  to  defend  them.  To  a 
lawyer  the  whole  proceeding  of  trying  by  a  military 
court  two  citizens  for  the  alleged  murder  of  another 
citizen  before  the  army  had  taken  possession  of  the 


92  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

region  in  which  the  alleged  murder  had  been  com- 
mitted was,  of  course,  an  absurdity,  and  a  mere  dis- 
play of  hrutum  fulmen,  but  we  went  through  the 
trial  before  the  brass-buttoned  officers,  and  the  fact 
having  been  proven  that  the  victim  was  a  "loyal" 
citizen,  the  tribunal  (it  would  be  ridiculous  to  call 
it  a  court)  promptly  pronounced  the  two  citizens, 
who  were  highly  respectable  men,  guilty  of  murder 
and  sentenced  them  to  death,  on  purely  circumstan- 
tial evidence. 

They  were  incarcerated  in  a  vile  den  with  a  strong 
guard  over  them,  but  by  some  mysterious  influence 
they  escaped — poorer  than  when  confined,  by  a 
thousand  dollars  or  more. 

About  this  time  or  a  little  later,  some  of  the  new- 
comers, with  more  money  than  discretion,  thought 
they  could  inaugurate  an  agricultural  campaign  that 
would  not  only  prove  to  be  immensely  profitable  to 
themselves,  but  educational  to  the  benighted  planters 
of  the  Cape  Fear  country,  who — as  they  believed — 
had  ignorantly  and  wastef ully  managed  their  affairs ; 
and  accordingly  they  bought  or  rented  rice  planta- 
tions, and,  hiring  hordes  of  freedmen,  undertook  to 
cultivate  that  staple  commodity  in  an  enlightened 
and  scientific  way.  The  result  was  pitiful  and  dis- 
astrous to  every  one  who  undertook  it,  without  ex- 
ception, and  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two  they,  each 
and  every  one,  went  broke  and  sought  other  fields 
of  enterprise,  the  chief  one  being  the  field  of  carpet- 
bag politics,  which  just  then  began  to  blossom  and 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddelu  93 

give  promise  of  a  rich  harvest.  Suppressing  the  in- 
dignation which  that  era  naturally  evoked,  there  has 
always  been  to  my  mind  an  element  of  pathos  in  the 
career  of  the  carpet-bagger.  Travesty  as  it  was  on 
government  of  any  kind,  and  sin  as  it  was  against 
American  civilization,  and  laughable  as  it  was  m 
the  very  extravagance  of  its  scoundrelism,  it  is  im- 
possible to  escape  a  sentiment  of  pity  for  its  humil- 
iating outcome. 

And  what  adequate  tribute  can  be  paid  to  the  men 
whose  patient  forbearance,  and  wise  conduct,  and 
splendid  courage  enabled  them  in  the  face  of  appar- 
ently insurmountable  difficulties  to  rescue  the  State 
from  the  perils  that  environed  it,  and  restore  its  an- 
cient character  for  integrity  and  conservatism?  A 
clearer  and  more  overwhelming  vindication  of  the 
masterfulness  of  a  people,  and  of  their  capacity  for 
self  government  has  never  been  seen;  and  yet  there 
are  American  citizens,  some  of  whom  are  designated 
as  statesmen  by  their  followers,  who  at  this  late 
day  (forty  years  after  the  war)  are  still  striving 
to  obstruct  the  magnificent  progress  which  has  fol- 
lowed the  supremacy  of  such  men  in  the  government 
of  their  States,  and  to  cripple  their  influence  in 
national  affairs.  And  this  not  from  any  well- 
grounded  fear  that  the  welfare  of  the  country  is 
endangered  by  this  righteous  restoration,  but  solely 
because  of  an  unholy  desire  to  perpetuate  the  politi- 
cal and  commercial  domination  of  other  States,  and 


94  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

the  power  and  patronage  of  a  party !  Surely  the 
mills  of  God  grind  slowly. 

The  first  thing  in  the  way  of  a  popular  entertain- 
ment after  the  war  that  I  can  recall  was  the  lecture 
of  ^^Artemus  Ward/'  illustrative  of  his  experiences 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  which  was  delivered  in  a  little 
room,  dignified  by  the  name  of  Mozart  Hall,  on 
Front  street.  There  had  never  been  any  similar  per- 
formance in  the  history  of  the  town,  and  the  audience 
(which  was  not  large  and  did  not  know  the  real 
character  of  the  lecture)  were  at  first  puzzled,  but 
in  a  few  moments  caught  the  spirit  of  the  humorist 
and  thenceforward  gave  themselves  up  to  the  most 
hilarious  merriment. 

It  was  indeed  a  sort  of  revelation  of  a  new  phase 
of  American  humor  which  at  once  captured  every 
one  who  heard  it.  Of  course  it  was  absurd  and  not 
intellectual,  but  it  was  so  quaintly  absurd  and  ridic- 
ulous that  the  most  serious  minded  person  could  not 
restrain  the  impulse  to  laugh  immoderately. 

Not  long  afterwards  we  had  an  opportunity  to 
hear  that  wonderful  violinist,  Vienxtemps  in  the 
same  hall  and  that  also  was  to  most  of  the  audience 
a  revelation  but  of  a  very  different  kind.  And  this 
!reminds  me  that  one  of  the  pleasantest  incidents 
about  that  period  that  I  can  remember  was  a  day's 
travel  in  company  with  Ole  Bull,  the  great  violinist, 
to  whose  music  I  had  listened  with  wonder  and  whom 
I  found  to  be  an  exceedingly  well  informed  man, 
especially  upon  a  subject  in  which  I  was  at  the  time 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  95 

much  interested,  namely,  the  early  Scandinavian 
voyages  to  America. 

He  also  came  to  Wilmington  and  gave  one  of  his 
marvelous  exhibitions  of  skill  as  a  violinist,  and,  as 
showing  his  genial  disposition  and  kindly  spirit,  when 
one  of  his  N^orwegian  countrymen,  the  late  John  C. 
Bailey,  of  Wilmington,  accompanied  me  in  a  call 
upon  him  at  his  hotel,  he  not  only  entertained  us  with 
pleasant  conversation,  but  voluntarily  took  out  his 
favorite  instrument  and  delighted  us  for  nearly  an 
hour  with  the  most  delicious  music  I  ever  heard. 

Except  to  those  who  are  already  informed  in  re- 
gard to  his  history,  it  may  be  interesting  to  state 
that  Ole  Bull,  who  next  to  Paganini,  was  the  greatest 
violinist  the  world  has  ever  produced,  was  also  a  hero 
and  a  cultured  gentleman.  He  played  the  violin 
at  the  age  of  five,  and  when  nine  years  old  was  first 
violinist  in  the  theater  where  his  father  was  an  actor. 
He  overcame  many  adversities  and  before  he  was 
twenty-five  years  of  age  had  established  his  reputa- 
tion in  every  country  of  Europe.  In  the  revolution 
of  1848  in  France  he  marched  at  the  head  of  a  regi- 
ment through  the  streets  of  Paris,  as  I  was  informed 
and  could  easily  believe  from  my  slight  acquaintance 
with  him,  for  he  was  a  fine  type  of  man,  physically 
and  intellectually,  and  possessed  a  temperament 
marked  by  enthusiasm.  He  put  more  soul  into  his 
violin  than  any  great  artist  I  ever  heard,  and  the 
effect  was  correspondingly  overpowering. 

In  the  summer  of  1868  Mr.  Louis  H.  DeRosset, 


9^  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

who  during  the  war  had  gone  to  the  West  Indies  in 
the  interest  of  the  Confederacy,  and  when  all  hope 
of  success  vanished  had  at  the  solicitation  of  some 
English  friends  gone  to  England  where  he  hecamo 
for  several  years  the  private  secretary  of  Lord  Lyt- 
ton  (Bulwer),  was  on  a  visit  home  and  asked  me 
and  three  other  gentlemen  to  join  him  in  publicly 
reading  "The  Kightful  Heir/'  one  of  Lord  Lytton's 
dramas,  on  a  certain  evening  which  would  be  simul- 
taneous with  the  production  of  the  play  in  London — 
the  purpose  being  to  thus  secure  the  American  copy- 
right. We  cheerfully  complied  with  the  request 
and  each  of  us  read  an  act  of  the  drama  at  the  opera 
house,  and  each  of  us  afterwards  received  an  auto- 
graph letter  of  thanks  from  Lord  Lytton.  Mine  was 
dated  October  16th,  1868,  and  has  been  preserved 
for  the  autograph. 

Among  the  pleasant  memories  of  my  life  was  the 
close  intercourse  between  me  and  my  double-first 
cousin  Capt.  James  Iredell  Waddell,  who  command- 
ed the  Confederate  cruiser  Shenandoah,,  the  only  ship 
that  carried  the  Confederate  flag  around  the  world. 
This  companionship  was  after  the  war,  for  he  had 
been  an  officer  of  the  United  States  ^N'avy  when 
I  was  a  boy,  and  we  had  not  met  for  many 
years.  He  was  one  of  the  many  victims  of 
that  stupendous  tragedy,  a  splendid  specimen  of 
manhood  physically,  and  as  brave,  true  and  gal- 
lant a  gentleman  as  ever  trod  a  quarter  deck. 
Reared  in  the  navy  from  the  age  of  17,  and 
having  served  under  the  flag  in  every  sea,  he  was  de- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  97 

voted  to  it  and  to  his  country's  service,  and  it  nearly 
broke  his  heart  when  a  sense  of  duty  compelled  him 
to  resign  his  commission  and  offer  his  services  to  his 
native  South.  He  had  been  on  the  Asiatic  Station 
for  some  time  when  the  war  between  the  States  broke 
out,  and  was  kept  there  as  long  as  possible,  but  imm> 
diately  upon  his  return  to  the  United  States  he  re- 
signed, and  was  promptly  arrested  as  a  suspected  en- 
emy. He  had  not  seen  his  wife  for  two  or  three 
years  and  asked  the  privilege  of  visiting  her  at  An- 
napolis for  two  days,  which  was  granted,  and  after  a 
few  hours  visit  he  bade  her  good-bye  and  "ran  the 
blockade"  across  the  Potomac  at  night  into  Virginia 
and  to  Richmond,  where  he  was  given  a  commission 
in  the  Confederate  service.  In  1864  he  was  assigned 
to  the  command  of  the  Shenandoah  and  made  his 
around-the-world  cruise,  doing  enormous  damage  to 
the  commerce  of  the  enemy  and  having  many  remarjc- 
able  experiences,  one  of  the  most  dramatic  of  which 
was  the  burning  of  ^yq  or  six  whalers  loaded  with 
oil,  in  Behring  Straits,  about  dusk,  when  the  burning 
oil  spread  over  the  sea  making  a  magnificent  specta- 
cle and  endangering  his  own  ship,  which  was  com- 
pelled to  run  for  her  life  to  escape  destruction.  The 
publication  of  a  history  of  this  cruise  by  a  petty  offi- 
cer who  was  the  only  deserter  from  the  ship  after  her 
arrival  in  Liverpool  after  a  most  trying  experience, 
and  the  exact  identity  of  this  publication  with  the 
diary  of  the  surgeon  of  the  ship,  which  mysteriously 
disappeared  at  the  time  of  his  desertion,  justified  the 


98  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

belief  that  it  was  stolen,  and  the  deserter  and  thief 
supplemented  the  facts  of  the  diary  by  a  most  infa- 
mous attack  upon  the  integrity  of  the  commanding 
officer  against  whom  he  bore  a  bitter  grudge  for  hav- 
ing been  severely  disciplined  by  him.  As  the  publi- 
cation did  give  the  history  of  the  cruise  (aside  from 
this  attack,)  any  subsequent  history  of  it  would  have 
been  superfluous  except  as  a  vindication  of  the  slan- 
dered officer,  and  therefore  none  was  made.  A  just 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  Captain  Waddell  was  de- 
livered at  Raleigh  several  years  ago  by  Capt.  S.  A. 
Ashe,  who  served  under  him  when  himself  a  cadet  in 
the  JSTavy. 

Because  of  a  correspondence  between  Judge  Kelley, 
of  Pennsylvania,  afterwards  known  as  ''Pig  Iron  Kel- 
ley," and  myself  in  which  he  cordially  invited  me  to 
call  on  him  in  Washington  where  he  was  a  member 
of  Congress,  I  took  occasion  on  my  first  trip  to  the 
J^orth  after  the  war,  to  stop  in  Washington,  and  go- 
ing to  the  Capitol,  to  send  in  my  card  for  Judge 
Kelley. 

He  immediately  came  out,  and,  against  my  protes- 
tation, insisted  on  taking  me  on  the  floor  of  the 
House.  We  went  in,  and  one  of  the  first  persons  to 
whom  he  introduced  me  was — not  a  member,  but  The- 
odore Tilton,  who  seemed  to  be  a  guest  in  the  lobby. 
Judge  Kelley  said,  ''Mr.  Tilton,  allow  me  to  intro- 
duce my  friend  Colonel  Waddell,  late  of  the  Confed- 
erate Army,"  whereupon  Mr.  Tilton  bowed  stiffly 
and  said,  "Well  Sir,  new  that  you  have  seen  us  Yan- 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  99 

kees,  you  don't  find  any  horns  or  hoofs  on  us,  do 
you?"  To  which  I  replied,  ''Oh!  no,  Mr.  Tilton, 
I've  seen  Yankees  before,  and  behind,  and  they  do 
not  alarm  me  in  the  least."  Then  Judge  Kelley 
asked  me  to  go  with  him  down  the  aisle  on  his  side  of 
the  House,  and  to  my  dismay,  introduced  me  in  the 
same  terms  to  Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  who  was  in  his 
seat  and  looked  up  indifferently  acknowledging  the 
introduction,  and  immediately  indulged  in  a  diatribe 
upon  the  ''drunken  tailor  at  the  other  end  of  the 
avenue,"  meaning  Andrew  Johnson,  the  President. 
Being  no  admirer  of  the  President,  I  said  nothing, 
and  soon  got  away  from  w^hat  was  an  undesired  inter- 
view with  the  most  detested  individual,  to  me  and 
every  Southerner,  in  the  country. 

My  position  was  very  embarrassing  to  me,  and  I 
speedily  bade  good-bye  to  Judge  Kelley,  and  left  the 
sacred  precincts  of  the  Capitol.  It  was  on  this  trip 
that  my  first,  and  last  interview  with  the  famous 
''Spiritual  Medium,"  Mr.  Foster,  occurred.  It  was 
at  the  earnest  request  of  one  of  the  proprietors  of 
Willard's  Hotel,  Mr.  Chadwick,  that  I  remained  over 
night  to  enjoy  this  experience,  expecting  nothing  ex- 
cept, perhaps,  some  absurd  trickery,  but  the  result 
was  so  astounding  that  I  have  never  forgotten  and 
will  never  forget  it.  There  were  four  of  us  who 
went  up  to  the  barely  furnished  room  of  Mr.  Foster, 
and  we  were  all  strangers  to  each  other — except  that 


100  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

Maj.  H.  A.  Gilliam,  of  ISTorth  Carolina,  and  I  were 
acquainted,  the  other  two  being  respectively  from 
Alabama  and  Georgia,  and  we  were  introduced  re- 
spectively as  gentlemen  from  these  several  States.  I 
have  often  told  in  social  intercourse  what  occurred  at 
that  meeting,  and  no  one  has  ever  yet  attempted  to 
explain  or  account  for  the  extraordinary  and  incom- 
prehensible results  of  it.  To  give  in  detail  what  oc- 
curred— ^the  recollection  of  which  is  indelibly  en- 
graved upon  my  memory — ^would  be  to  recite  what 
any  ordinary  person  would  regard  as  an  incredible 
story,  and  therefore  I  omit  any  account  of  it — ^but  it 
certainly  was  very  astounding.  Mr.  Foster  was  a 
man  of  medium  stature,  with  dark  hazel  eyes,  whose 
expression  when  in  repose  seemed  to  me  to  be  sad  and 
introspective,  and  his  manner  was  quiet  and  gentle- 
manly. He  indulged  in  no  attempt  at  mystery  or  se- 
crecy of  any  kind,  but  was  perfectly  natural  in  all 
his  conversation  and  conduct,  although  he  had  a 
dreamy  look  while  engaged  in  "communicating'^ 
with  any  of  us,  and  after  an  hour  of  most  extra- 
ordinary demonstration?  of  his  peculiar  gifts, 
begged  us  to  excuse  him  for  the  reason  that 
the  work  was  very  exhausting  to  him.  We  bade 
him  good-bye,  all  of  us  wondering  what  in  the 
world  was  the  meaning  and  explanation  of  such 
an  apparently  supernatural  performance,  but  none 
of  us  having  any  more  faith  in  Spiritualism 
than  before.  Foster  was  at  that  time  at  the  height 
of  his  fame,  and  must  have  been  receiving  a  large  in- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  101 

come  from  his  interviews.  I  believe  the  Psycholo- 
gists who  have  for  many  years  investigated  phenom- 
ena of  this  kind  are  still  baffled  in  their  efforts  to 
account  for  them,  although  my  knowledge  of  the  lit- 
erature of  psychology  is  limited.  I  have  often  heard 
the  whole  matter  summarily  disposed  of  by  knowing 
persons  who  declared  that  it  was  ' 'nothing  but  mind- 
reading,  or  hypnotism/'  without  ever  seeming  to  re- 
flect that  mind-reading  or  hypnotism  is  quite  as  dif- 
ficult to  account  for  as  so-called  spiritual  manifesta- 
tions. 

In  1868  an  election  was  ordered  in  the  state  on 
the  question  of  amending  the  Constitution,  and  the 
newly  enfranchised  negroes  were  in  high  feather  over 
their  accession  to  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  disposed 
to  assert  to  the  fullest  what  they  supposed  to  be  their 
especial  privileges.  In  Wilmington  they  were  decid- 
edly on  top,  and  were  appointed  poll-holders  and 
judges  of  election.  I  can  never  forget  that  my  ven- 
erable father,  being  asked  to  go  to  the  polls  and  vote, 
and  complying  without  ever  thinking  of  what  he 
might  encoimter  there,  presented  himself  at  the  poll- 
ing place,  and  was  confronted  by  a  black  fellow  citi- 
zen who  was  recently  a  slave,  and  asked  by  him  his 
name,  and  residence  and  so  forth,  as  preliminary  to 
the  exercise  of  his  right  of  suffrage.  The  old  gen- 
tleman's face  was  a  study  for  a  moment,  but  he 
handed  his  ballot  to  the  colored  gentleman,  and  then 
coming  out  into  the  street  and  gazing  for  a  moment 
across  the  river  towards  the  plantations  that  had  been 
the  homes  of  his  ancestors  for  more  than  a  hundred 


102  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

years,  he  took  off  his  hat  and  in  an  undertone  said 
with  upraised  hands,  "My  God !" 

At  the  same  election  the  venerable  Dr.  James  F. 
McRee,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  physicians  that 
ever  lived  in  the  city  presented  himself  at  the  polls, 
and  his  vote  was  refused  upon  the  ground  that  he 
had  at  one  time  been  the  chief  magistrate  or  alderman 
of  the  city,  and  as  he  retired  from  the  voting  place  a 
poor  wretched  negro,  who  was  idiotic  and  crawling  on 
all  fours,  came  up  and  was  allowed  to  vote  unchal- 
lenged. 

These  two  cases  which  are  but  specimens  among 
a  thousand  others  of  like  kind  that  happened  about 
that  time  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  political  degrada- 
tion to  which  the  proud  people  of  North  Carolina 
were  subjected.  But  for  some  years  afterwards — 
and  indeed  until  ''Reconstruction"  had  played  out 
and  there  was  a  restoration  of  decent  and  honest  gov- 
ernment— this  kind  of  travesty  upon  free  government 
was  continued  in  aggravated  form.  Suppose  Massa- 
chusetts had  been  subjected  to  a  like  experience  at 
that  period  ?  Would  there  not  have  been  a  race  war 
there?  And  yet,  although  the  facts  were  made 
known,  they  seemed  to  make  no  impression  on  the 
minds  of  the  Northern  people,  beyond  a  feeling  of 
shame  on  the  part  of  those  who  retained  some  regard 
for  constitutional  liberty  and  a  vindictive  feeling  of 
"serves  them  right"  on  the  part  of  the  unrelenting 
enemies  of  the  South.  Thank  God  that  time  has 
passed,  and  sectional  hostility  with  it. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell,  103 

CHAPTEK  V. 

Congressional  Experiences. 

I  little  dreamed  when  calling  on  Judge  Kelley  at 
the  Capitol  that  in  about  five  years  I  would  be  a  fel- 
low member  of  the  House  with  him,  but  it  so  hap- 
pened, and  so  continued  for  eight  years.  My  nomi- 
nation for  Congress  to  supply  a  vacancy  caused  by 
the  withdrawal  of  the  resralar  nominee  was  whoUv 
unexpected  and  was  literally  forced  upon  me  against 
my  earnest  protest  and  was  made  only  seventeen  days 
before  the  election  by  the  executive  committee  of  the 
district. 

It  certainly  seemed  to  be  a  forlorn  hope  as  there 
were  twelve  Counties  in  the  District,  and  a  strong 
opponent  was  in  the  field  with  a  majority  at  the  last 
election  of  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  behind 
him.  ^Never  having  been  a  candidate  for  any  politi- 
cal position,  and  being  unknown  to  the  larger  part  of 
the  constituency,  my  chances  of  success  appeared  as 
one  in  a  million;  but,  to  the  astonishment  of  us  all, 
on  both  sides,  luck  came  my  way  and  I  was  elected, 
in  August,  1870,  and  then  began  my  experience  in 
public  life. 

As  an  ex-Confederate  Democrat  was  persona  non 
grata  in  CongTess  it  seemed  advisable  to  take  time  by 
the  forelock  and  get  acquainted  with  members  prior 
to  the  assembling  of  that  body,  and  accordingly  I 
went  to  Washington  about  a  month  before  that  time 


104  Some  Memokies  of  My  Life. 

and  being  entitled,  as  a  member-elect,  to  the  privi- 
lege of  the  floor,  soon  made  friends  on  both  sides  of 
the  House  and  before  the  assemblage  of  the  new  Con- 
gress felt  assured  of  getting  my  seat. 

Although  fairly  elected  and  fortified  by  the  certifi- 
cate of  a  ''Keconstruction''  Kepublican  Governor,  and 
without  any  notice  of  a  contest  when  I  presented  my- 
self at  the  bar  of  the  House  to  be  sworn  in  on  March 
4,  1871,  Mr.  Maynard,  a  Republican  member  from 
Tennessee,  rising  to  a  question  of  privilege,  objected 
to  the  administration  of  the  oath  to  me  upon  the 
ground  that  I  was  disqualified,  without  stating  any 
reason  beyond  that  allegation.  I  was  therefore  re- 
quested by  the  Speaker,  Mr.  Blaine,  to  stand  aside, 
until  that  matter  was  disposed  of.  One  absurdity  in 
the  law  at  that  time  was  that  while  the  "loyal"  mem- 
bers were  required  to  take  what  was  known  as  "the 
ironclad  oath,"  a  modified  oath  had  been  framed  for 
the  ex-Confederate  members.  I  stood  aside  and  Mr. 
Beck,  of  Kentucky,  afterwards  distinguished  as  a 
Senator,  came  to  me  and  said :  "I'm  very  sorry,  we 
need  every  Democrat  here,  but  your  case  may  not  and 
probably  will  not  be  again  taken  up  for  six  months,  if 
ever."  I  said,  "There  is  a  man  on  the  other  side  of 
the  House  who,  I  believe,  would  move  to  admit  me, 
but  I  won't  ask  him  to  do  it."  "To  whom  do  you  re- 
fer ?"  asked  Beck.  "Judge  Kelley,"  I  said.  "What  ? 
Kelley  is,  as  he  boasts,  the  extremest  Radical  in  the 
House."  "All  the  same,"  said  I,  "unless  I'm  badly 
mistaken  he  will  do  it,  if  asked."     "Oh,  well,  I'll  ask 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddell.  105 

him  mighty  quick,"  and  Beck  went  over  to  Kelley 
and  in  a  few  moments  returned  perfectly  delighted 
and  "smiling  all  over.''  ''You  are  right/'  he  said, 
''but  it  beats  the  Devil ;  he  is  the  last  man  I  should 
ever  have  thought  would  do  it." 

Shortly  after  Kelley,  ^vho  had  notified  the  Speaker 
of  his  intention,  and  found  him  entirely  in  sympathy 
with  it,  rose  to  a  question  of  privilege,  and  moved 
"that  the  House  proceed  to  the  completion  of  its  or- 
ganization by  swearing  in  the  gentleman  from  the 
Third  District  of  North  Carolina." 

And  thereupon  Maynard,  backed  by  a  little  Kadi- 
cal  member  from  my  own  State,  undertook  to  offer 
reasons  that  were  ridiculous  against  it,  but  was  over- 
whelmed by  Kelley  who  demanded  the  previous  ques- 
tion on  his  resolution,  and  it  was  put  and  carried  by 
a  large  majority,  and  the  Speaker,  looking  me 
straight  in  the  face,  said  "If  the  gentleman  from 
ISTorth  Carolina  is  present  he  will  please  appear  to  be 
sworn  in,"  and  I  was  prompt  to  rise,  hold  up  my 
hand,  and  take  the  oath,  and  the  Democratic  minority 
was  increased  by  one  vote.  As  already  stated,  this 
was  on  the  4th  March,  1871,  when  the  first  session  of 
the  Forty-second  Congress  began.  So  far  as  my  mem- 
ory serves  me,  that  was  the  last  time  that  the  House 
met  on  the  4th  of  March,  although  the  Senate  has  al- 
ways met  in  Executive  Session  at  that  time.  The 
reason  for  the  assembling  of  the  House  was  that  sev- 
eral years  previously,  in  order  to  tie  the  hands  of 
President  Andrew  Johnson  and  prevent  him  from 


106  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

acting  during  a  recess  it  was  resolved  that  Congresc 
should  sit  continuously,  the  old  House  going  out  and 
the  new  House  coming  in  on  the  4th  of  March,  in- 
stead of  the  first  Monday  in  the  following  December. 
One  of  the  outgoing  members  was  the  celebrated 
prize  fighter  and  gambler,  John  Morrisey,  of  New 
York,  who  had  been  a  member  for  two  years,  but, 
with  becoming  modesty  and  ''horse  sense,"  had  been  a 
silent  one.  Like  most  of  his  kind  he  was  what  is 
called  "a  clever  fellow,"  good  natured,  generous  and 
of  course  fearless.  In  one  of  the  all-night  sessions 
just  previous  to  the  adjournment  of  that  Congress, 
and  in  order  to  pass  away  the  tedious  hours,  I  took  a 
seat  by  him  in  the  lobby  and  in  the  course  of  our 
conversation  he  gave  me  in  answer  to  questions  a  his- 
tory of  all  his  prize  fights  and  of  some  of  the  big  bet- 
ting that  had  been  done  in  his  'New  York  and  Sara- 
toga establishments.     In  answer  to  the  query  if  it 

was  a  fact  that had  won  $150,000  from  him  at 

one  sitting,  he  said  it  was  not  true,  and  upon  my  re- 
marking that  I  had  always  thought  the  story  incredi- 
ble he  added:  "No,  he  didn't  win  $150,000,  but  he 
won  $130,000,  and  when  he  rose  to  leave  I  stopped 
him  and  said  I  wanted  to  settle  right  then,  for  I 
might  get  him  some  time  for  a  big  stake,  and  should 
require  the  same  arrangement,"  and  he  did  after- 
wards win  enormous  sums  from  him.     He  said  that 

was  the  highest  bettor  that  had  ever  lived  so 

far  as  he  knew,  and  when  I  asked  what  was  the  big- 
gest bet  he  ever  saw  he  replied  "sixty  thousand  dol- 


AiuFBED  Moore  Waddell.  107 

lars,"  which  he  had  lost  to  the  same  man  on  the  above 

occasion,  and  added  that would  have  been  a 

rich  man  if  he  hadn't  bet  so  high,  and  when  asked  if 
he  was  not  still  rich  replied,  "No,  I  don't  think  he 
is  worth  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  now." 

This  interview  with  Morrisey  reminds  me  of  an- 
other held  several  years  afterwards  under  the  same 
circumstances  of  an  all-night  session,  with  George  Q. 
Cannon,  a  Delegate  from  Utah  in  Congress,  and  a 
high  oflScial  in  the  Mormon  Church — a  Bishop,  I  be- 
lieve. He  was  an  Englishman,  by  birth,  a  stout, 
smooth-faced,  well  kept  looking  man,  very  intelligent 
and  well  informed,  and  of  very  pleasant  manners. 
We  sat  together  for  an  hour  or  more  after  midnight, 
the  purpose  on  my  part  being  to  gather  some  infor- 
mation, if  possible,  in  regard  to  the  origin,  develop- 
ment and  practical  working  of  the  Mormon  govern- 
ment, religiously,  socially  and  politically.  He  was  se- 
rious, and  apparently  sincere  and  reverent  in  dis- 
cussing the  alleged  miraculous  origin  of  his 
"Church"  and  its  relation  to  Biblical  history,  with 
which  he  seemed  very  familiar,  and  earnestly  repu- 
diated the  charge  that  it  was  immoral  in  its  teach- 
ings, claiming  that  its  disciples  were  exceptionally 
sober,  moral,  and  industrious  people  who  had  long 
been  persecuted  for  their  faith.  He  afterwards  sent 
me  some  literature  on  the  subject  which  appeared 
to  me  to  be  nonsensical  and  sacrilegious. 

It  has  often  been  a  source  of  regret  to  me  that  I 


108  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

never  kept  a  diary,  or  at  least  memoranda,  of  cur- 
rent events  during  mj  life,  especially  during  the 
period  of  the  Civil  War  and  my  Congressional  ser- 
vice, and  this  regret  is  more  strongly  felt  now  that  I 
am  imdertaking  to  write  out  some  of  my  recollec- 
tions— because  a  contemporaneous  record  is  not  only 
more  to  be  relied  upon  for  accuracy  of  statement,  but 
for  fullness  of  detail  and  sequence  of  events,  than  un- 
aided memory  can  ever  be.  Every  young  man  ought 
to  keep  a  diary,  not  of  daily  trifles,  but  of  events  of 
any  importance  occurring  within  his  observation  or 
knowledge,  for  it  is  from  such  sources  that  true  his- 
tory is  gathered  and  even  if  such  a  diary  never  gets 
beyond  the  circle  of  his  family  it  will  always  be  a 
source  of  interest  and  pleasure  to  his  descendants. 
The  daily  paper  may  be  suggested  as  a  substitute,  so 
far  as  public  events  are  concerned,  but  who  keeps  a 
file  of  the  daily  papers?  The  patient  and  untiring 
student  of  history  will  resort  to  them,  but  who  else  ? 

I  now  realize,  as  never  before,  the  value  of  such 
personal  records  and  deplore  more  than  ever  the  loss, 
by  fire  and  otherwise  of  those  that  were  written  by 
some  of  my  own  forbears  in  the  Colonial  and  Revolu- 
tionary periods  of  our  history.  I  say  "by  fire  and 
otherwise"  because  while  all  the  valuable  records  of 
one  branch  of  the  familv  were  burned  in  the  eonfla- 
gration  that  consumed  the  old  homestead,  those  of  the 
other  branch  which  were  equally  or  more  interesting 
were  borrowed  as  material  for  writing  history,  and 
could  never  afterwards  be  found. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  109 

A  record,  not  of  the  public  events,  which  may  be 
found  in  the  published  accounts  of  the  period — but 
of  the  incidents  in  the  life  of  a  member  of  Congress 
from  1871  to  1879  would  in  the  language  of  a  dis- 
tinguished North  Carolina  Judge  concerning  another 
matter,  make  '^mighty  interesting  reading.'^ 

For  instance,  the  experiences  of  the  celebrated  Ku 
Klux  Committee  in  1871,  of  which  I  was  at  first  the 
only  Southern  member,  were  of  the  liveliest  interest. 
If  there  ever  was  a  finer  test  of  character  than  was  in- 
volved in  the  examination  of  witnesses  by  the  Com- 
mittee I  don't  know  where  it  may  be  found.  It  was, 
unquestionably,  a  fearful  ordeal  to  undergo,  for  the 
majority  of  the  Committee  w^ere  a  body  of  relentless 
prosecuting  attorneys  who  exhausted  their  powers  in 
trying  to  extort  evidence  that  would  convict "■  promi- 
nent citizens  of  the  South,  and  the  witnesses  them- 
selves, of  crime.  Every  device  that  ingenuity  could 
suggest  was  resorted  to,  but,  although  there  were 
some  pitiable  exhibitions  of  weakness  and  demorali- 
zation on  the  part  of  witnesses,  there  were  some, 
splendid  displays  of  fearlessness  and  moral  courage 
which  commanded  the  respect  and  admiration  of  all 
who  witnessed  them.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable 
of  them  was  when  Col.  Wm.  L.  Saunders  was  ex- 
amined, and  of  this  I  could  give  no  better  description 
than  in  my  address  at  the  University  of  ISTorth  Caro- 
lina on  his  life  and  character,  in  1887. 

On  that  occasion  allusion  was  made  to  this  episode 
in  his  career  in  the  following  language : 


110  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

'^In  1871  towards  the  close  of  the  Reconstruction 
period,  during  which  he  did  as  much  to  rescue  the 
State  from  the  ruin  and  degradation  which  threat- 
ened her  as  any  man  w^ithin  her  borders,  he  was  ar- 
rested by  the  United  States  authorities  and  carried  to 
Washington  to  be  examined  by  the  'Ku  Khix'  Com- 
mittee with  the  hope  and  expectation  on  the  part  of 
those  who  caused  his  arrest  of  extorting  from  him  a 
confession  of  his  own  complicity  in  the  acts  of  the 
^Ku  Klux/  or  at  least  of  procuring  evidence  against 
others.  I  can  never  forget  his  presence  there,  or  the 
result  of  his  examination.  Although  myself  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee,  he  was  my  guest  and  shared  my 
bed  during  his  stay  in  Washington,  but  not  one  word 
passed  between  us  on  the  subject  of  his  arrest  and  no 
information  w^as  asked  or  given  in  regard  to  the  or- 
ganization of  which  he  was  supposed  to  be  the  Chief. 
He  appeared  before  the  Committee,  and  was  asked 
more  than  a  hundred  questions,  every  one  of  which 
except  a  few  formal  ones,  he  steadfastly  refused,  or, 
as  he  expressed  it,  declined  to  answer.  He  was  badg- 
ered and  bullied,  and  threatened  with  imprisonment 
(which  I  really  feared  would  be  imposed  upon  him) 
but  with  perfect  self-possession,  and  calm  politeness 
he  continued  to  say  ^I  decline  to  answer.'  It  was  a 
new  experience  for  the  Committee,  because  the  terror 
aroused  by  the  investigation  had  enabled  them  to  get 
much  information,  and  no  witness  had  up  to  that  time 
defied  their  authority,  but  they  recognized  that  they 
liad  now  encountered   A  MAN,  who  knew  how  to 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  ill 

^lard  his  rights  and  protect  his  honor,  and  after 
some  delay  he  was  discharged  with  his  secrets  (if  he 
had  any)  locked  in  his  own  bosom,  and  carrying  with 
him  the  respect  and  admiration  of  all  who  witnessed 
the  ordeal  through  which  he  had  passed. 

"In  these  days  of  a  restored  union,  and  a  return  to 
normal  conditions  such  conduct  may  not  appear  to 
have  in  it  any  element  of  heroism,  but  under  the  cir- 
cumstances which  then  surrounded  the  Southern  peo- 
ple, it  required  both  moral  and  physical  courage  of 
the  highest  order. 

"Those  who  are  old  enough  to  remember  that  most 
shameful  period  of  our  history  will  readily  recall  the 
degradation,  the  crimes  against  civilization,  and  the 
terrorism  which  then  prevailed,  and  how  amidst  the 
general  dismay  the  faint  hearted  stood  helpless  and 
silent  before  the  arbitrary  and  reckless  power  exer- 
cised over  them  and  they  will  also  with  still  more 
vividness  remember  how,  as  to  a  trumpet  call,  the 
strong  hearts  and  brave  thrilled  responsive  to  every 
word  and  act  of  those  who  stood  amidst  the  storm 
erect,  steadfast  and  true  to  their  birthright. 

"Leader  among  the  leaders  of  them  was  William 
L.  Saunders,  and  this  exhibition  of  his  dauntless 
spirit  before  the  chief  priests  of  the  persecution,  as- 
sembled at  the  Capitol  of  the  country  and  panoplied 
with  irresponsible  power,  won  for  him  a  claim  to  the 
admiration  of  all  true  men.'' 

I  am  glad  to  reproduce  this  tribute  to  as  brave  and 
true  a  man  as  ever  lived,  and  to  one  who  did  his 


112  Some  Memories  of  My  Llfe. 

State,  with  unselfish  devotion,  as  valuable  service  as 
was  ever  rendered  by  any  of  her  sons,  in  the  prepara- 
tion and  publication  of  her  Colonial  Records,  after 
serving  her  with  equal  devotion  and  with  splendid 
courage  during  four  years  of  terrible  war  in  which 
he  was  mangled  and  disabled  for  life  by  wounds  of  the 
most  fearful  kind. 

The  report  of  the  Ku  Klux  Committee  filled  thir- 
teen volumes,  and  a  greater  waste  of  paper  and  ink 
was  never  perpetrated,  for  it  accomplished  nothing, 
except  perhaps  the  aggravation  of  sectional  bitterness 
in  the  country,  which  was  doubtless  the  purpose  of 
those  who  instigated  the  investigation.  It  was  a 
period  of  popular  insanity  in  the  Northern  States  on 
the  subject  of  the  negro  and  his  alleged  wrongs  which 
ran  its  course  in  due  time,  and  which  culminated  in 
the  Force  Bill  and  Ku  Klux  investigation  of  1871. 

There  were  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at  that 
time  a  number  of  strong  men  of  each  political  party, 
many  of  whom  were  afterwards  transferred  to  the 
Senate.  Among  the  latter  were  Blaine,  Frye,  and 
Hale,  of  Maine ;  Hoar  and  Dawes,  of  Massachusetts ; 
Garfield,  of  Ohio,  and  other  Republicans ;  and  Beck, 
of  Kentucky ;  Voorhees,  of  Indiana ;  Lamar,  of  Mis- 
sissippi ;  Reagan  and  Mills,  of  Texas,  and  other  Dem- 
ocrats. There  were  others  who  never  became  Sena- 
tors, but  were  very  able  men,  who  made  their  mark 
and  retired  to  private  life. 

The  most  unique  character  in  the  House  was  Ben 
Butler,     of  malodorous   memory.     This   man   was, 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  113 

morally  and  physically,  a  strange  freak  of  nature. 
Without,  apparently,  any  moral  sense  and  impervious 
to  any  suggestions  of  that  fact,  and  with  a  figure  con- 
sisting of  a  large,  retreating,  bald  head  and  cocked 
eyes  whose  lids  fell  heavily  over  them  at  strange  an- 
gles, a  ridiculous  pot  belly,  and  thin  short  legs,  he 
was  one  whose  appearance  on  the  floor,  and  especially 
when  addressing  the  House,  always  excited  laughter 
and  generally  indignation— a  perfect   Caliban  who 
was  more  despised  and  hated,  perhaps,  than  any  man 
who  ever  occupied  a  seat  there.     Just  before  my  ser- 
vice began,  Butler  was  Chairman  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee,  and  General  Farnsworth,  of  Illinois,  who 
was  a  member  of  that  Committee  and  of  the  same 
party  with  Butler,  in  the  Committee  room  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  other  members,  denounced  Butler  as  a 
blankety,  blankety,  blank  liar  and  scoundrel  to  his 
face.      The    doughty    Major-General    sat    with    cool 
equanimity  throughout  the  whole  performance,  and 
when  Farnsworth's  fury  had  expended  itself,  simply 
remarked,  ''I  have  heard  that  before  !" 

He  was  unquestionably  a  man  of  ability  and  had  a 
large  law  practice  in  Boston,  especially  in  the  crim- 
inal courts,  and  at  different  periods  of  his  life  was  a 
candidate  for  office  on  the  ticket  of  every  party  in 
Massachusetts  for  Governor— being  defeated  as  Re- 
publican in  1871,  and  as  a  "Greenbacker"  in  1878 
and  1879,  and  elected  by  Democrats  in  1882,  and 
again  defeated  in  1883,  and  finally,  as  the  ^'Green- 
back"  candidate  in  1884  for  President  receiving  a 
8 


114  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

handful  af  votes.  His  war  record  was  a  combination 
of  vindictiveness  and  absurdity  which  became  his- 
toric. In  an  address  delivered  before  the  Miles 
O'Eeilly  Post  of  Union  Soldiers  in  New  York  in 
1878  I  recited  the  incident  related  to  me  by  Admiral 
Porter  about  what  a  Confederate  prisoner  told  the  of- 
ficers on  his  flag  ship  was  the  effect  of  the  explosion  of 
Butler's  powder  ship  at  Fort  Fisher.  It  was  a  good 
story  and  has  been  often  published  and  Porter,  who 
despised  Butler,  took  great  pleasure  in  telling  it  to 
me,  which  he  did  while  Butler  was  making  a  charac- 
teristic speech  in  the  House,  the  Admiral  having 
come  in  and  taken  a  seat  by  my  side  before  Butler 
took  the  floor. 

Speaking  of  Butler  reminds  me  of  a  very  witty  re- 
tort which  John  Young  Brown,  of  Kentucky,  made 
to  Speaker  Blaine  when  the  latter,  while  Brown  was 
denouncing  Butler  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  intep 
rupted  him.  In  the  heat  of  his  denunciation  Brown 
addressed  himself  directly  to  Butler,  saying  that  he 
was  the  legitimate  successor  of  Burk,  of  Ireland, 
whose  crimes  gave  rise  to  the  phrase  of  "Burking." 

"You,  Sir;''  he  said and  the  speaker 

rapped  him  down,  saying;  "The  gentleman  will  ad- 
dress the  Chair,"  whereupon  Brown  instantly  re- 
plied: "All  right,  Mr.  Speaker,  You,  Sir/'  etc., 
which  brought  down  the  House.  Prior  to  this,  "Sun- 
set" Cox  had  attacked  Butler  and  had  been  met  by 
the  reply:  "Shoo,  fly,  don't  bother  me,"  to  which 
Cox  made  a  stinging  rejoinder;  but  the  negro-min- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  115 

strel  phrase  of  Butler  produced  great  merriment  at 
Cox's  expense,  and  neutralized  the  effect  of  his 
speech. 

In  1872-73  the  Credit  Mobilier  scandal  was  de- 
veloped and  when  the  crisis  was  reached  in  the  House 
and  a  vote  had  to  be  taken,  there  was  a  painful 
scene.  The  evidence  was  not  sufficient  to  convict 
some  of  the  accused  members  of  corruption  and  they 
escaped,  but  two  of  them,  one  from  each  political 
party,  were  expelled.  No  member  on  the  roll-call 
was  allowed  to  explain  his  vote  or  say  anything  ex- 
cept ^^Aye"  or  ^'Nay"  but  Mr.  Beck,  when  his  name 
was  called,  with  lightning-like,  rapidity  answered: 
^'For  want  of  jurisdiction,  Nay."  The  Speaker's 
gavel  fell  before  he  finished,  but  too  late  to  stop  him. 
It  was  the  only  instance  of  an  attempt  to  explain  a 
vote  and  it  was  not  recorded.  There  was  an  all-night 
session  soon  after  this  vote,  and  the  Committee  on 
Public  Buildings  and  Grounds  entertained  the  mem- 
bers in  their  room  with  refreshments.  As  I  passed 
through  the  room  to  the  "layout"  the  deep  and  rasp- 
ing tones  of  Judge  Kelley's  voice  arrested  my  atten- 
tion. He  was  talking  to  McHenry,  of  Kentucky, 
about  the  injustice  of  the  attempt  to  convict  him  of 
any  corrupt  connection  with  the  Credit-Mobilier  (of 
which  he  was  acquitted)  and  I  caught  one  charac- 
teristic utterance  that  made  me  laugh  heartily. 
With  great  solemnity,  and  in  a  sort  of  heart-rending 
tone,  he  said,  *^Sir,  I  was  the  bottom  dog  in  the  fight, 


116  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

and  the  d — d  scoundrels  were  gnawing  me  hind 
quarters." 

Judge  Kelley's  career  was  a  peculiar  one.  Start- 
ing out  in  life  as  a  journeyman  jeweler  he  read  law 
and  soon  became  a  judge  in  Philadelphia.  He  was 
a  Calhoun  Democrat  and  free  trader,  but  was  meta- 
morphosed into  an  extremely  radical  Republican  and 
ultra  high  protectionist,  and  so  remained  to  the  day 
of  his  death.  He  was  not,  however,  a  bitter  man  to- 
wards his  political  opponents,  and  was,  I  think,  to- 
wards the  end  of  his  political  life,  beginning  to  real- 
ize the  fact  that  he  and  his  associates  had  made  a 
great  mistake  in  regard  to  reconstruction,  and  the  real 
condition  of  the  Southern  people  and  the  true  rela- 
tions between  the  races  there. 

There  was  but  one  voice  in  the  House  that  was 
deeper  toned  than  Kelley's  and  that  was  the  voice  of 
]^.  P.  Banks,  of  Massachusetts,  the  man  who  was 
spoken  of  by  the  ex-Confederates  as  Stonewall  Jack- 
son's Commissary,  because  of  the  immense  captures 
of  stores  from  him  during  the  war  by  the  immortal 
Stonewall.  The  voice  of  General  Banks  w^as  not 
only  deeper  toned  than  Kelley's  but  was  free  from  the 
harshness  and  tearing  quality  that  characterized  the 
latter.  It  was  really  a  magnificent  voice,  and  the 
dignity  of  the  speaker  added  impressiveness  to 
its  sonorous  utterance.  Banks's  career  was  quite  as 
remarkable  as  Kelley's,  he  having  begun  life  as  a  fac- 
tory laborer  and  having  rapidly  risen  to  the  positions 
of  Congressman,  Governor  of  his  State,  and  Major 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  117 

General  in  the  army.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  testify  to 
the  fact  that  (according  to  my  recollection)  General 
Banks  was  exceptionally  free  from  bitterness  in  his 
speeches,  at  a  time  when  it  was  a  popular  and  very 
common  practice  for  Northern  politicians  to  indulge 
in  it  when  discussing  Southern  affairs. 

It  was  the  day  of  the  little  hectoring  demagogue 
who,  having  the  Southern  people  under  foot,  rioted  in 
the  perfectly  safe  opportunity  to  heap  opprobrium 
upon  them  and  try  to  degrade  them  in  every  way. 

Mr.  Hoar,  of  Massachusetts,  was  a  wholly  different 
type  of  man  from  either  Judge  Kelley  or  General 
Banks.  Born  a  "New  England  aristocrat,  the  son  of 
a  distinguished  lawyer  and  leading  abolitionist  who 
had  been  driven  out  of  South  Carolina  when  he  went 
there  in  1844  to  test  the  constitutionality  of  legisla- 
tion prohibiting  free  negToes  from  entering  that 
State,  and,  therefore,  having  an  hereditary  grievance 
against  that  State  and  the  South,  he  was  an  educated 
and  scholarly  gentleman  who,  although  the  most  in- 
tense partisan  and  the  most  unwavering  supporter  of 
every  measure  adopted  by  his  party,  sometimes  made 
unanswerable  speeches  against  those  measures,  and 
then  with  serene  complacency  voted  for  them.  He 
afterwards  became  distinguished  as  a  Senator,  mak- 
ing some  really  great  speeches  in  the  Senate  and  grad- 
ually toning  down  his  anti-Southern  spirit  until 
finally  towards  the  close  of  his  life  he  accepted  an  in- 
vitation from  the  Bar  of  South  Carolina  to  deliver 
the  annual  address  before  them  in  Charleston  and 


118  SoMB  Memories  of  My  Life. 

made  a  noble  and  patriotic  speech  which  reflected 
great  honor  upon  him. 

The  personal  peculiarities  of  many  members  of 
the  House  have  been  a  source  of  interest  and  amuse- 
ment to  me  when  recalling  the  experiences  of  those 
days. 

One  that  presents  itself  vividly  was  the  facial  ex- 
pression of  a  member  from  a  ^Northwestern  State 
who  always  looked  as  if  he  smelled  something  dis- 
agreeable, especially  when  any  question  touching 
Southern  affairs  came  up,  and  who  reminded  me  of  a 
cat  that  had  just  been  singed  or  scalded.  He  was  a 
snarl  incarnate,  with  claw^s  perpetually  exposed,  and 
from  whom  I  never  heard  anything  that  was  pleasant 
to  hear.  He  must,  it  seemed  to  me,  quarrel  with 
himself  in  the  absence  of  some  one  else  to  snarl  at — • 
but  he  became  a  Senator  afterwards,  and  gradually 
yielded  to  the  influences  prevalent  in  that  body  which 
Donn  Piatt  characterized  as  the  fog  bank. 

In  strong  contrast  with  such  a  character  the  genial 
faces  and  hearty  spirit  of  many  others  rise  up  out  of 
the  past,  and  one  of  the  most  charming  of  them  was 
that  glorious  fellow,  Daniel  W.  Yoorhees,  of  Indiana, 
^^the  tall  sycamore  of  the  Wabash,''  afterwards  a 
Senator  for  many  years,  for  whom  I  always  cherished 
an  honest  affection  and  unqualified  admiration.  He 
was  a  splendid  specimen  of  a  man  physically,  and  his 
heart  was  as  big  as  his  body.  Brave  as  a  lion,  tender 
as  a  woman,  full  of  the  milk  of  human  kindne^^s  and 
as  generous  as  a  knight  of  old,  his  crowning  gift  was 


AliFEED   MOOEE  WaDDEIX.  119 

genuine  eloquence.  His  political  enemies  tried  to 
belittle  his  powers  in  this  respect,  as  is  common 
among  mere  partisans,  but  no  one  ever  heard  him 
speak  who  did  not  feel  his  commanding  power  as  an 
orator,  however  much  thej  might  differ  from  him  in 
opinion.  His  arraignment  of  the  Republican  party 
for  its  conduct  of  aifairs  in  the  South,  in  his  speech 
on  the  Keport  of  the  Ku  Klux  Committee  of  which 
he  was  a  minority  member,  was  one  of  the  most  bril- 
liant and  patriotic  phillipics  ever  pronounced  in  the 
American  Congress.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest  ad- 
vocates at  the  bar  of  his  generation,  and  made  his 
first  national  reputation  when  only  about  twenty-six 
years  of  age  in  the  defense  of  young  Cook,  an  Ohio 
youth  who  had  been  induced  to  join  old  John  Brown 
in  his  famous  raid  on  Harper's  Ferry,  for  which,  like 
his  leader,  he  was  tried  and  hanged. 

As  might  naturally  be  expected  in  such  a  man  Mr. 
Voorhees  had  a  keen  sense  of  humor  and  was  delight- 
ful in  social  intercourse.  A  trifling  but  characteris- 
tic illustration  of  this  which  took  place  in  my  pres- 
ence was  as  follows :  Only  members  of  the  House  or 
persons  presenting  an  order  from  a  member,  were 
permitted  to  use  the  splendid  marble  bath  rooms. 
One  day  his  very  handsome  and  elegantly  dressed 
brother-in-law,  who  afterwards  held  a  high  position 
in  the  diplomatic  service,  came  in  and  said,  "Dan 
give  me  an  order  to  the  bath  room,"  whereupon  he 
turned  to  his  desk  and  wrote  on  a  card  which  he 
showed  me,  and  then  handed  to  the  gentleman.  The 
card  contained  the?e  words:  "Wash  this  fellow!" 


120  Some  Memokies  of  My  Life. 

One  of  the  most  thoroughly  well  informed  and  use- 
ful men  that  I  ever  knew  in  public  life  was  Abram  S. 
Hewitt,  of  New  York,  who  was  first  elected  to  Con- 
gress in  1874.  Although  afterwards  forced  into  po- 
litical prominence  he  was  not  a  politician  in  the  ordi- 
nary sense,  and  did  not  possess  the  temperament  or 
the  qualifications  required  for  political  leadership. 
He  was  an  eminently  practical  business  man  who  had 
attained  wealth  as  a  manufacturer  of  iron  and  steel, 
and  was  recognized  as  an  authority  upon  all  ques- 
tions connected  with  that  industry,  but  he  was  also  a 
fine  classical  scholar  and  loved  the  best  literature, 
although  it  is  very  doubtful  if  the  great  majority  of 
his  acquaintances  were  aware  of  the  fact. 

Having  become  somewhat  intimate  with  him,  op- 
portunity was  afforded  me  to  learn  something  of  his 
attainments  in  that  way,  while  he  gave  me  on  one  oc- 
casion more  detailed  information  in  regard  to  the 
practical  operation  of  the  tariff  on  iron  and  steel — 
using  his  umbrella  for  illustration — than  I  ever  re- 
ceived in  the  same  time. 

On  a  very  cold  evening  when  the  ground  was  cov- 
ered with  a  deep  snow  he  invited  Hon.  John  Ran- 
dolph Tucker  and  myself  to  dine  with  him,  and  upon 
our  arrival  at  his  house  we  found  the  only  other  guest 
to  be  the  editor  of  a  leading  'New  York  publication, 
an  Englishman  by  birth  and  long  since  dead,  who 
during  the  evening,  with  what  I  thought  an  air  of 
siaperiority  that  gradually  grew  somewhat  offensive, 
undertook  to  arraign  and  cross-examine  Mr.  Tucker 
and  mvsclf  about  conditions  in  the  South.     He  re- 


Alfred  Mooee  Waddell.  121 

ceived  polite  answers  for  some  time,  but  Mr.  Hewitt 
saw  that  my  patience  was  giving  out,  and  when  it 
was  evident  that  an  explosion  could  not  be  longer  de- 
layed he  very  skilfully  gave  a  new  turn  to  the  con- 
versation and  relieved  the  situation  by  some  interest- 
ing narrative. 

He  and  I  afterwards  spoke  several  times  from  the 
same  platform  in  New  York,  and,  as  illustrating  his 
scholarship,  after  he  had  finished  one  of  the  meetings, 
referring  to  something  said  by  me  he  quoted  a  long 
passage,  perhaps  a  page,  from  Horace  as  being  appro- 
priate. 

Just  about  that  time  Hon.  S.  S.  (^'Sunset")  Cox, 
who  had  heard  my  lecture  on  "America  before  Co- 
lumbus," made  a  speech  at  the  Burns  Festival  in 
Washington,  and  humorously  alluded  to  my  claim  for 
the  Irish  saying  that  his  bootblack  was  named  Camp- 
bell, and  he  wondered  if  the  Clan  Campbell  had  come 
from  Africa,  whereupon  I  addressed  the  following 
lines  to  him : 

Why  should  it  be  strange,  as  you  seem  to  suppose, 
That  the  Clan  which  you  spoke  of  to-night 
Should  have  come  from  a  land  where  they  never  wear  clothes 
And  a  tropical  sun  sheds  his  light? 
r  It  was  always  the  country  of  camels,  you  know, 
And,  as  for  the  dress,  let  me  say 
In  the  heathery  highlands  wherever  you  go 
Folks  still  go  half-naked  to-day. 
But  if  you  still  doubt,  my  obstinate  friend, 
And  still  further  my  patience  would  tax, 
I  answer  you  thus,  and  the  argument  end  : 
A  great  many  Scotchmen  are  Blacks. 


122  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

The  mention  of  the  lecture  referred  to  above  recalls 
a  brief  and  very  pleasant  conversation  with  the  dis- 
tinguished Charles  Kingsley,  Canon  of  Westminster 
and  chaplain  to  Queen  Victoria,  who  had  come  to 
America  on  a  lecturing  tour,  and  had  arrived  at  the 
Capitol  a  day  or  two  days  after  mine  was  delivered. 
There  had  been  no  lecture  on  the  subject  of  pre-Co- 
lumbian discoveries  in  America  for  fifty  years,  the 
last  essay  being  by  Hon.  Edward  Everett  in  a  Bos- 
ton magazine  about  the  year  1824  (I  think)  and 
there  was  very  little  knowledge  of  the  subject  even 
among  educated  people,  which  was  what  induced  me 
to  enter  upon  a  study  of  it  and  afterwards  to  make 
it  the  theme  of  a  lecture.  Upon  Mr.  Kingsley's  ar- 
rival it  was  announced  that  he  would  lecture  on  that 
subject,  and  I  expressed  to  him  my  great  pleasure  at 
the  prospect  of  hearing  him,  when,  to  my  surprise 
and  disappointment  he  said  that  he  had  just  read  in 
the  New  York  Sun  a  full  report  of  mine  with  a  reci- 
tal of  all  the  authorities  quoted  and  would  change  his 
lecture  to  one  on  Westminster  Abbey.  To  my  remon- 
strance that  the  difference  was  between  the  perform- 
ance of  an  obscure  individual  from  ''the  backwoods" 
and  that  of  one  whose  name  was  known  wherever  the 
English  language  was  spoken,  he  replied  that  the 
ground  had  been  completely  covered  and  every  au- 
thority known  to  him,  except  one,  had  been  used,  and 
my  earnest  solicitations  were  fruitless  to  turn  him 
from  his  purpose,  which  made  me  feel  like  looking 
for  a  hole  to  crawl  in. 


Ai^FRED  Moore  VVaddell.  123 

The  most  provoking  thing,  however,  in  connection 
with  the  whole  matter,  was  the  peculiar  fact  that  in 
less  than  sixty  days  after  the  appearance  of  the  J^ew 
York  Suns  report  two  enterprising  individuals,  one 
in  New  York  and  one  in  Maryland,  published  each  a 
small  book  of  supposed  original  investigations,  which 
strangely  tallied  with  mine  even  in  the  order  in  which 
the  authorities  were  cited.  Some  years  afterwards 
the  exhaustive  work  of  Ignatius  Donnelly  entitled 
* 'Atlantis"  appeared,  a  monument  to  his  patient  in- 
dustry. 

An  interesting  man  with  whom  I  became  ac- 
quainted not  long  after  entering  Congress,  and  for 
whom  I  entertained  a  feeling  of  friendship  was  Mr. 
Boudinot,  a  half  Cherokee  Indian  who  had  repre- 
sented his  people  at  Richmond  during  the  war.  Al- 
though he  showed  his  blood  in  his  complexion,  eyes 
and  his  long  straight  black  hair,  he  was  as  far  from 
being  an  Indian  in  his  nature  and  disposition  as  pos- 
sible, being  an  exceedingly  gentle  and  lovable  man,  of 
poetic  temperament,  and  literary  instincts  and  pos- 
sessing a  fine  baritone  voice  which  though  not  culti- 
vated, was  very  melodious  in  the  songs  and  ballads 
he  sang  to  his  own  accompaniment,  and  through  all 
of  which  there  was  a  tone  of  pathos  that  suggested  the 
history  of  his  maternal  race.  He  was  said  to  be  an 
eloquent  speaker,  and  at  the  time  of  my  acquaintance 
with  him  he  was,  if  my  memory  is  not  at  fault,  try- 
ing to  secure  from  Congress  some  legislation  for  his 


124  8oME  Memokies  oip  My  Life. 

people  in  the  Territory  recently  established  as  the 
State  of  Oklahoma. 

Another  and  wholly  different  type  of  character  in 
Washington  at  that  time,  and  who  furnished  an  ex- 
treme illustration  of  the  money  grasping  spirit  of 
the  age,  was  a  lawyer  and  ex- judge,  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  who  had  in  early  life  removed  to  the  far 
Northwestern  States,  where  he  had  made  a  large  for- 
tune. The  particular  incident  which  recalls  him  to 
my  memory  happened  during  a  conversation  between 
us  at  the  Metropolitan  Hotel,  there  being  a  Senator 
and  two  or  three  others  prasent.  It  was  during  the 
same  severe  weather,  already  alluded  to  as  prevailing 
when  Mr.  Tucker  and  I  dined  with  Mr.  Hewitt  and 
had  the  unpleasant  bout  with  the  editor. 

It  developed  during  the  conversation  that  the  ex- 
judge  had  come  about  a  thousand  miles  from  his 
home  to  Washington  to  argue  before  the  Supreme 
Court  a  case  of  small  importance  for  a  comparatively 
small  fee.  Remarking  that  it  was  terrible  weather 
for  such  a  trip,  I  said,  "Judge,  have  you  ever  trav- 
eled abroad  ?"  to  which  he  replied  in  the  negative. 
'Well,  you  are  reputed  to  be  worth  more  than  two 
millions,  and  have  no  child ;  why  don't  you  take  your 
wife  and  make  an  extended  tour  of  the  British 
Islands  and  Europe,  where  you  can  see  all  the  historic 
places,  and  the  art  and  architecture  and  libraries  and 
monuments  of  the  older  civilization?"  "Oh,  I 
couldn't  do  that  he  replied,  couldn't  leave  my  busi- 
ness.    I'd  be  miserable."     "Well,   Judge,   you    are 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  125 

getting  old,  you  are  very  rich,  you  have  no  family  to 
be  anxious  about,  what  is  your  object  in  life  now — 
what  are  you  living  for?"  ^'To  make  money  Sir," 
was  the  answer.  'Tor  Heaven's  sake  haven't  you  got 
enough  when  you  can  live  comfortably  on  one-tenth  of 
your  income  ?"  "'No^  sir.  As  long  as  there  is  a  dollar 
in  the  world  I'd  like  to  get  it!"  That  ended  the 
conversation  and  my  respect  for  a  self-confessed  idol- 
ater in  contrast  with  whose  god  a  wooden  image 
would  be  a  highly  respectable  object  of  worship. 

One  day  in  the  winter  of  1873,  while  on  my  way 
to  Washington  and  just  after  passing  the  town  of 
Fredericksburg,  a  very  remarkable  looking  man 
boarded  the  train  and  came  into  the  smoking  car 
where  I  sat.  He  instantly  attracted  my  attention  by 
his  patriarchal  appearance  and  magnificent  physique, 
and  in  addition  to  this  there  was  some  subtle  influ- 
ence that  seemed  to  emanate  from  him  and  affect  me 
after  he  had  taken  a  seat  opposite,  and  begun  to  read 
the  book  which  he  brought  into  the  car  half  open  in 
his  hand.  He  was  several  inches  above  six  feet  in 
stature,  and  correspondingly  stout,  and  wore  a  noble 
head  of  gray  hair  that  fell  to  his  shoulders  and  a  full 
gray  beard  that  swept  his  breast.  He  would  have 
commanded  attention  anywhere  in  the  world  by  his 
majestic  presence  and  manly  beauty.  Afterwards  I 
became  intimate  with  him  and  discovered  that  there 
was  a  complete  harmony  between  his  physical  stature 
and  his  intellectual  proportions.     It  was  Albert  Pike, 


126  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

soldier,  jurist,  oriental  scholar  and  poet,  and  the 
chief  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  in  the  United  States, 
a  man  who  could  deeply  impress  the  Supreme  Court 
by  his  wealth  of  legal  learning  and  eloquence,  or  dis- 
cuss with  scholars  the  Vedas  of  India,  or  write  a 
beautiful  poem.  I  remember  that  one  day  he  asked 
me  to  use  my  privilege  as  a  member  ot  Congress  to 
order  from  the  Library  the  Rig  Veda  so  that  he 
could  get  it  from  me  to  verify  something  he  was  writ- 
ing, and  of  course  I  readily  promised  to  do  so;  but 
when  I  made  the  request  in  the  usual  way  for  myself 
of  that  wonderful  man,  A.  R.  Spotford,  the  Libra- 
rian of  Congress  (who  could  name  the  exact  shelf  and 
place  where  every  one  of  the  more  than  half  million 
books  in  the  Library  could  be  found)  he  laughed  and 
said :  ^'Oh,  you  don't  want  this  book  for  yourself, 
but  for  General  Pike,  I  guess,  who  is  the  only  man 
in  Washington  who  wants  it ;  but  it  can  not  be  taken 
out  of  the  Library  for  anybody." 

General  Pike  was  writing  a  book  on  some  subject 
of  oriental  literature,  the  manuscript  of  which  he 
showed  me,  but  just  about  the  time  he  completed  it  a 
fire  in  his  rare  library  destroyed  the  whole  fruit  of 
his  labors.  He  had  not  up  to  that  time  published  his 
poems  in  book  form,  and  I  do  not  think  they  ever 
have  been  so  published,  but  he  presented  me  with 
copies  of  all  the  principal  ones,  requesting  me  not  to 
allow  them  to  be  printed.  One  of  these  entitled 
"Every  Year"  was  accompanied  by  a  full  vindication 
of  himself  from  the  charge  of  plagiarism  which  some 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddell.  127 

one  had  made  against  him,  and  this  poem  appeared  in 
a  Sunday  paper  (The  Herald,  I  think)  to  which,  in 
the  next  issue  of  the  paper,  I  wrote  a  reply  in  the 
same  simple  metre,  which  is  inserted  here  hy  request 
of  a  friend. 

Time,  fly  he  ne'er  so  fleetly 

Every  year, 
Only  tunes  your  harp  more  sweetly 

Every  year, 
And  we  listen  to  its  ringing 
And  the  minstrel  swan-like  singing 
More  melodious  numbers  flinging 

Every  year. 

Sing  on,  oh  !  grand  old  master 

Every  year. 
Pour  thy  mellow  measures  faster 

Every  year. 
They  will  make  our  journey  lighter 
And  our  weary  pathway  brighter. 
As  our  locks  grow  thin  and  whiter 

Every  year. 

Yes,  our  loved  ones  go  before  us 

Every  year. 
And  the  living  more  ignore  us 

Every  year. 
It  is  well ;  what  need  for  sorrow 
If  the  dawn  of  each  to  morrow 
Brighter  tints  from  Heaven  borrow 

Every  year, 

Alexander  H.  Stephens  who  was  Vice-President  of 
the  Confederacy  and  was  elected,  but  not  admitted, 
to  the  U.  S.  Senate  in  1866,  was  in  1873  elected  to 
the  House  of  Representatives.     Crowds  usually  at- 


128  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

tended  the  opening  of  each  Congress  and  there  was 
an  unusual  crowd  present  at  the  opening  of  the  Eor- 
ty-third  Congress,  anxious  to  see  the  celebrated  in- 
valid statesman  sworn  in  as  a  member  of  the  body  of 
which  he  had  been  before  the  war  a  brilliant  adorn- 
ment. The  galleries  were  packed  by  an  immense 
throng  of  curious  spectators,  and  Mr.  Stephens, 
who  was  delayed  and  was  not  sworn  in  with  the 
rest  of  us,  finally  made  his  appearance  and  im- 
mediately became  the  center  of  observation.  He 
was  on  crutches,  and  after  the  Speaker  was  noti- 
fied that  he  was  ready  to  be  sworn  in,  he  called 
Gen.  P.  M.  B.  Young,  of  Georgia,  and  my- 
self, and  asked  us  to  help  him  down  the  center  aisle 
to  the  front  of  the  Speaker's  desk,  but  was  particular 
to  request  us  not  to  support  him  except  by  slightly 
holding  the  loose  sleeve  of  his  coat  on  either  side. 
This  we  did,  and  slowly  marching  down  the  aisle 
stood  by  him  while  the  oath  was  administered,  and 
then  escorted  him  back  to  his  seat.  In  view  of  Mr. 
Stephens's  record  and  the  circumstances  surrounding 
us  there  was  a  touch  of  the  dramatic  in  the  scene. 
Young,  who  was  a  West  Point  cadet  before  the  war, 
and  under  whom  I  served  for  a  short  time  in  1864, 
was  a  handsome  man,  and  as  genial  a  friend  as  I  ever 
had.  Like  the  friend  whom  we  served  on  that  occa- 
sion and  hundreds  of  other  "good  old  rebels"  he  too 
"joined  the  majority"  some  years  ago. 

In  the  spring  of  18Y5  there  were  enormous  meet- 
ings in  Philadelphia  in  behalf  of  the  Centennial,  and 
at  one  of  them  at  which  I  spoke  there  was  a  demon- 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddell.  129 

stration  of  feeling  that  I  had  thought  was  peculiar  to 
the  South.  The  first  exhibition  of  this  feeling  was 
made  upon  the  recital  by  me  of  an  incident  which 
had  recently  occurred  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
when  some  Confederate  soldiers  had  exhumed  the  re- 
mains of  two  Union  soldiers  and,  acting  as  escort  of 
honor,  had  delivered  them  to  the  officer  then  in  com- 
mand of  the  regiment  located  in  the  State,  and  helped 
to  bury  them  with  military  honors ;  and  the  second 
was  when  I  asserted  my  right  to  speak  in  Philadel- 
phia because  my  ancestor  had  been  killed  in  1777  at 
Germantown  which  was  now  in  the  corporate  limits 
of  the  City.  There  never  was  in  a  Southern  audi- 
ence wilder  enthusiasm,  and  some  of  the  features  of 
it  were  very  amusing,  one  citizen  having  ''shied"  his 
stove-pipe  hat  at  the  ceiling,  and  another  having 
sprung  over  the  orchestra  on  the  stage  and  proposed 
three  times  three  cheers  for  the  old  North  State, 
which  were  given  by  the  whole  audience  standing. 

It  has  been  my  fortune  to  hear  several  of  the  most 
notable  debates  that  have  occurred  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  since  the  war  of  1861-65.  The 
greatest  of  these  was  that  which  occurred  in  January 
1876,  between  Mr.  Blaine  and  Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia, 
or  ''Ben  Hill,"  as  he  was  familiarly  called.  It  was 
a  splendid  display  of  parliamentary  eloquence,  of 
skillful  and  powerful  attack  on  the  one  side  and  even 
more  skillful  and  powerful  defense  on  the  other,  at  a 
critical  period  of  national  and  party  history.  The 
9 


130  Some  Memoeies  of  My  Life. 

scandals  that  had  disgraced  the  last  administration  of 
General  Grant  made  it  necessary  for  the  leaders  of 
the  Republican  party  in  Congress  to  divert  public  at- 
tention to  some  issue  which  would  arouse  the  gradu- 
ally fading  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  war,  and 
thus  enable  them  to  check  the  fast-rising  tide  of  popu- 
lar condemnation,  and  turn  it  in  their  favor.  The 
Presidential  election  was  to  be  held  that  year,  and 
the  Democrats  had  already  captured  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  elected  Randall  Speaker. 

A  bill  for  the  removal  of  disabilities  from  all  the 
Southern  people  had  been  introduced  with  every 
prospect  of  its  passage.  Blaine  was  confidently  an- 
ticipating the  nomination  of  himself  for  the  Presi- 
dency. Something  must  be  done  to  change  the  face 
of  affairs,  and  so  it  was  determined  in  the  Republican 
councils  to  inaugurate  what  has  ever  since  been 
known  as  a  ^'bloody  shirt"  campaign,  and  Mr.  Blaine 
was  the  ready  leader  of  the  enterprise.  The  method 
chosen  was  very  adroit.  It  was  the  offering  of  an 
amendment  to  the  Amnesty  bill  excepting  Jefferson 
Davis  alone  from  its  provisions.  This  amendment 
was  offered,  and  on  it  Blaine  took  the  floor.  The 
House  and  galleries  were  crowded  to  suffocation  in 
expectation  of  a  great  dramatic  display,  for  he  was 
recognized  as  the  most  brilliant  and  the  most  ambi- 
tious leader  of  his  party,  with  more  devoted  followers 
than  any  other. 

He  played  his  role  with  the  consummate  skill  of  a 
Mephistopheles,   describing  with  lurid   rhetoric  the 


Alfked  Moore  Waddell.  131 

horrors  of  the  ''rebel"  prisons  and  the  treatment 
therein  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Union,  and  every  other 
distressing  feature  of  the  war,  all  of  which  he 
charged  to  be  the  work  of  the  arch-fiend  Jefferson 
Davis.  He  denounced  him  as  a  more  cruel  monster 
than  the  Duke  of  Alva,  or  any  other  merciless  charac- 
ter in  history,  and  for  an  hour  continued  to  pour 
upon  the  head  of  the  Confederate  President  a  torrent 
of  bitter  invective,  concluding  his  speech  with  the 
declaration  that  while  he  was  willing  to  extend  am- 
nesty to  all  others  he  would  never  consent  to  the  re- 
moval of  the  disabilities  of  so  great  a  criminal  as  he. 
It  was  an  awful  trial  to  the  temper  of  the  Southei-n 
members  to  have  to  sit  and  listen  to  such  an  attack, 
made  for  such  an  unworthy  and  wicked  purpose,  upon 
one  not  only  innocent  of  the  specific  charges  made 
against  him,  but  in  no  respect  more  guilty  of  crime  as 
a  Confederate  than  we  ourselves,  but  we  knew  that 
Ben  Hill  would  reply  to  the  speech  and  felt  confident 
that  he  would  do  so  effectually.  Our  expectations 
were  fully  and  gloriously  realized  the  next  day  when, 
in  the  presence  of  an  audience  larger  than  that  which 
greeted  Blaine,  and  more  eager  to  hear  how  his  terri- 
ble arraignment  would  be  met,  Mr.  Hill,  who  occu- 
pied a  seat  about  the  middle  of  the  hall,  arose,  and  in 
a  calm,  clear  tone  said,  "Mr.  Speaker."  Instantly 
every  seat  was  occupied  and  every  face  was  turned  to- 
ward him.  His  opponents,  not  knowing  what  a  giant 
he  was  in  debate,  for  they  had  never  heard  him  on  a 
great  occasion,  and  feeling  sure  that,  whatever  line  of 


132  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

defense  he  might  take,  he  must  injure  his  case,  confi- 
dently awaited  the  catastrophe.  As  he  began  to  warm 
up  to  his  work,  and  deliver  his  sledge  hammer  blows 
Blaine,  disregarding  the  proprieties  of  debate,  inter- 
rupted and  tried  to  disconcert  him.  He  failed  to  do 
so,  and  after  several  attempts  gave  it  up  and  re- 
mained silent,  while  Hill,  w4th  ever  increasing  power 
of  argimient  and  ever  increasing  volume  of  indisputa- 
ble evidence,  proceeded  to  demolish  the  cunningly 
constructed  and  apparently  indestructible  edifice  of 
falsehood  and  malice  which  the  gentleman  from 
Maine  had  erected.  With  every  blow  delivered  by 
Hill  a  part  of  that  structure  went  down,  and  with  it 
the  serene  expression  of  assured  triumph,  which  had 
rested  upon  the  countenance  of  his  opponents  at  the 
beginning,  gradually  disappeared  until  at  the  end 
they  looked  like  men  who  had  been  detected  in  an  at- 
tempt to  commit  some  great  fraud,  while  the  Demo- 
crats (some  of  whom  had  been  very  anxious)  burst 
into  a  storm  of  enthusiastic  applause,  which  was 
echoed  from  the  packed  galleries. 

When  the  campaign  of  1876  ended  in  which  Tilden 
and  Hayes  were  respectively  the  candidates  of  the 
Democratic  and  Republican  parties  for  the  Presiden- 
cy, and  when  the  result  was  seen  to  be  dependent 
upon  the  admission  or  exclusion  of  certain  electoral 
votes,  an  excitement  almost  unparalleled  swept  over 
the  countrv,  and  there  was  during  the  followins:  ses- 
sion  of  Congress  when  the  investigation  of  the  elec- 
tions in  several  States  was  beins^  conducted,  real  dan- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  133 

ger  of  civil  war.  There  were  some  dramatic  scenes 
in  tlie  House,  and  matters  had  reached  a  climax  when 
the  device  of  an  electoral  commission  was  resorted  to 
and  the  celebrated  eight  to  seven  decision  was  ren- 
dered, which  seated  Hayes.  During  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  Electoral  Commission  I  was  appointed 
on  a  committee  of  five  members  of  which  "Sunset" 
Cox  was  Chairman  to  investigate  alleged  election 
frauds  in  New  York,  on  Long  Island,  and  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  we  were  engaged  in  the  work  for  about 
three  weeks,  but  it  resulted  in  nothing,  although 
evidence  was  given  of  election  methods  that  were  a 
revelation  to  me,  and  which  were  absolutely  sicken- 
ing. Especially  was  this  the  case  in  Philadelphia, 
where  I  got  my  first  view  behind  the  curtain  of  niu- 
nicipal  politics  in  that  city.  While  in  'New  York 
the  Democratic  members  of  the  committee,  Messrs. 
Cox,  Rice,  of  Ohio,  and  myself,  called  on  Mr.  Tilden 
twice  at  his  Gramercy  Park  residence.  On  our  first 
visit  the  impression  he  made  on  me  was  a  very  de- 
pressing one  because  of  his  very  feeble  and  drowsy 
appearance,  which  was  emphasized  by  his  unshaven 
face  and  general  dishabille,  but  he  looked  more  alive 
on  our  second  visit,  and  talked  with  more  animation. 
When  I  spoke  to  some  of  his  friends  about  his  appa- 
rently dull  and  indifferent  manner  they  laughed  and 
said  that  such  a  comment  was  often  made  by  persons 
who  only  casually  met  him  or  heard  him  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  speech,  but  that  the  change  in  him  when 
he  began  to  "warm  up"  was  magical.     He  was  cer- 


134  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

tainlj  the  most  masterful  organizer  of  political  forces 
in  the  country  at  that  time  and  was  unquestionably 
robbed  of  the  Presidency  under  the  forms  of  law. 
So  much  has  been  written  about  that  critical  period 
that  I  shall  not  enlarge  upon  it  further  than  to  say 
that  when  it  became  apparent  from  the  vote  of  the 
majority  of  the  Electoral  Commission  in  one  way  on 
a  certain  state  of  facts  in  the  case  of  one  State,  and  in 
an  exactly  opposite  way  on  practically  the  same  facts 
in  the  case  of  another  State,  that  said  majority  was 
not  a  judicial  but  a  mere  partisan  one  that  disregard- 
ed evidence  and  voted  for  their  party  candidate  in 
spite  of  it,  I  personally  heard  from  the  lips  of  at 
least  one  Northern  Democrat  who  had  been  a  dis- 
tinguished Union  soldier  expressions  that  if  made  a 
few  years  earlier  would  have  caused  him  to  be  court- 
martialed  and  shot.  It  is  an  open  secret  that  there 
was  an  organization,  said  to  be  100,000  in  number, 
composed  largely  of  Union  soldiers  and  officered 
chiefly  by  them,  who  were  ready  to  march  to  Wash- 
ington and  inaugurate  Tilden,  but  that  they  were 
finally  dissuaded  from  doing  so. 

No  one  who  was  not  at  the  center  of  affairs  had 
then,  or  has  ever  had  since,  a  thorough  appreciation 
of  the  real  situation,  and  the  dangers  that  threatened 
the  country. 

I  heard  the  speech  of  Hon.  Jeremiah  S.  Black  be- 
fore the  Electoral  Commisp.ion  ai(d  \\  '11  never  forget 
it.  I  had  long  wished  to  hear  him  f^peak,  a  wish  that 
was  strengthened  oy  some  very  kind  words  he  had 


AxFBED  Moore  Waddell.  135 

said  of  me  (and  to  me)  about  a  spepoh  I  had  made, 
and  which  seemed  to  afford  him  much  pleasure.  His 
sijeech  was  extraordinary  in  every  respect.  It  w^s 
not  an  argument  on  the  facts  of  the  c  ase — indeed  hs 
disclaimed  anv  intention  to  do  that  because  he  said 
it  was  useless — ^but  it  was  the  only  -.ime  in  my  life 
that  I  ever  heard  counsel  arraign  the  judges  beioro 
whom  he  appeared  as  the  real  criminals.  He  exco- 
riated them  in  a  style  of  which  he  was  the  unrivatleJ 
master  and  they  took  it  in  silence,  while  the  audience, 
composed  chiefly  of  Congressmen  and  lawyers,  all 
listened  with  astonishment,  and  some  of  them  with 
delight.  He  spoke,  as  he  said,  unexpectedly,  having 
only  been  retained  or  rather  invited,  to  do  so  a  few 
hours  previously,  but  he  ^^made  the  fur  fly"  for  a  half 
hour,  and  this,  although  fruitless  of  any  other  result, 
afforded  me  and  many  others  the  only  pleasure  we 
got  out  of  the  whole  business. 

For  the  last  two  years  of  my  service  in  the  House 
I  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Post-office 
and  Post  Roads,  having  been  appointed  to  that  posi- 
tion by  Speaker  Randall.  One  of  the  members  of 
the  Committee  was  the  present  Speaker  (1907)  of 
the  House,  Mr.  Cannon,  of  Hlinois,  and  another  was 
the  present  Senator  Money,  of  Mississippi,  but  the 
ablest  one,  in  my  judgment,  was  John  A.  McMahon, 
of  Ohio,  who  was  a  lawyer  of  very  superior  gifts,  and 
attainments,  which  caused  him  to  be  selected  as  one 
of  the  counsel  in  the  impeachment  trial  of  Secretary 
Belknap,  which  occurred  during  that  Congress.     The 


136  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

Post-office  Committee  during  that  term  investigated 
the  notorious  "Star  Eoute"  frauds,  and,  although  as 
usual  the  chief  criminals  managed  to  escape  convic- 
tion in  the  courts,  the  development  of  frauds,  false 
swearing  and  general  organized  scoundrelism  in  the 
securing  of  mail  contracts  in  the  extreme  Western 
and  Northwestern  parts  of  the  country  was  astound- 
ing in  its  bold  recklessness. 

Immense  sums  of  money  were  made  by  these  con- 
tractors and  their  associates  in  and  out  of  public  of- 
fice, for  which  no  service  at  all  or  the  merest  pre- 
tence of  it  was  ever  rendered.  They  succeeded,  in 
some  instances,  in  robbing  the  Government  for  years 
of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  by  devices  so  cun- 
ning as  to  provoke  irresistible  laughter  when  the 
game  was  exposed. 

It  is  sad  to  remember  that  every  one  of  the  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives  from  I^orth  Carolina  with 
whom  I  served  during  those  eight  years  has  passed 
to  the  undiscovered  country — the  four  Senators, 
Pool,  Abbott,  Ransom  and  Vance,  and  the  fifteen 
Representatives,  Cobb,  Thomas,  Yeates,  Rogers, 
Leach,  Harper,  Shober,  Manning,  R.  B.  Vance,  Da- 
vis, Scales,  Ashe,  Robbins,  Brogden  and  Steele. 
"  What  shadows  we  are  and  what  shadows  we  pursue !  " 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  137 


CHAPTEH  VI. 

Quash  and  the  Duel. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  these  Memories  allusion  was 
made  to  the  many  traditions  that  were  delivered  to 
the  writer  in  his  youth  about  persons  and  events  con- 
nected with  his  own  people  ^'in  the  low  country;" 
that  is  to  say,  on  the  lower  Cape  Fear  River,  and 
among  them  were  mentioned  the  stories  told  to  him 
by  Uncle  Abel,  the  old  family  servant,  about  duels 
that  had  been  fought.  One  of  these  was  the  duel  be- 
tween Col.  Maurice  Moore,  and  Gen.  (afterwards 
Governor)  Benjamin  Smith,  which  took  place  on  the 
28th  June,  1805.  A  brief  account  of  this  duel  is 
contained  in  the  Memoirs  of  Gen.  Joseph  Gardner 
Swift,  who  was  the  second  of  General  Smith,  and  was 
afterwards  Chief  of  Engineers  in  the  United  States 
Army.  He  was  at  the  time  of  the  duel  the  engineer 
officer  in  charge  of  Fort  Johnston  and  of  the  har- 
bor improvements  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  He  gives 
quite  a  thrilling  account  of  his  drive  through  the 
country  to  notify  Mrs.  Smith  of  her  husband's  wound 
and  of  his  return  with  her  through  a  terrific  thunder- 
storm. The  meeting  place  of  the  dueling  party  was 
in  what  was  known  as  the  Boundary  House  near  the 
sea  coast,  so  called  because  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween I^orth  and  South  Carolina  ran  directly  along 
the  dividing  passage-way  of  the  building,  and  when 
the  Sheriff's  officers  who  had  been  sent  in  pursuit  of 


138  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

the  party  arrived,  they  found  them  quietly  in  posses- 
sion of  the  south  side  of  the  passage  way  and  laugh- 
ing over  the  situation,  and  the  chagxin  of  the  officers. 

Of  course  General  Swift's  account  of  the  duel  in 
his  Memoirs  was  authentic,  though  very  brief  so  far 
as  the  main  facts  were  concerned ;  but  what  is  history 
when  compared  with  tradition,  stimulated  by  a  lively 
imagination,  in  regard  to  the  details  of  the  same 
event  ?  Without  in  the  least  discounting  the  histori- 
cal evidence,  I  accept  the  version  which  assigns  to  an 
individual  named  Quash  his  due  meed  of  praise  for 
the  gallant  part  he  took  in  that  affair,  and  now  pro- 
ceed to  tell  the  whole  story  just  as  it  happened  ac- 
cording to  Uncle  Abel's  memory  and  my  regard  for 
the  rules  that  should  govern  a  writer  of  veracious 
chronicles  as  follows : 

In  the  early  afternoon  of  a  golden  June  day  in 
the  year  1805,  beneath  one  of  the  great  oaks  sur- 
rounding a  country  residence  near  the  Cape  Fear 
Eiver,  an  old  negro  was  fumbling  with  the  tools  at  a 
rough  carpenter's  bench,  and,  after  vainly  attempt- 
ing to  accomplish  some  simple  work,  had  paused  in 
a  state  of  utter  bewilderment.  His  hand  sought  the 
top  of  his  head,  as  if  feeling  for  the  idea  required, 
and,  ceasing  the  doleful  hymn  with  which  he  had 
been  accompanying  his  unskilled  labor,  he  began  to 
soliloquize : 

"I  dunno  what  de  matter  wid  dese  tool.  Dey  don't 
wuck  right  today.     De  saw-teeth's  all   dull,   an'  de 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  139 

aidge's  all  off'n  de  plane,  an'  de  compasses  'pears  to 
wiggle.     Dere  mus'  be  witch  'round  here.'' 

With  a  furtive  glance  toward  the  wide  piazza  of 
the  house,  he  drew  a  phial  from  his  pocket  and  quick- 
ly scattered  about  the  bench  that  surest  of  all  charms 
against  the  machinations  of  witches — flaxseed — and 
then  resumed  his  mumbling  and  his  work. 

Sitting  on  the  piazza,  with  a  book  in  his  hand,  was 
an  elderly  gentleman,  rather  small  in  stature,  with 
eyes  like  an  eagle,  and  a  bald  head  which  looked  like 
the  white  dome  of  a  cathedral,  in  its  grand  outlines. 
He  had  recently,  after  many  years  of  service,  resigned 
a  distinguished  judicial  position,  and  was  regarded 
with  undisguised  awe  by  all  children,  and  by  all  the 
negroes  in  the  neighborhood,  to  whom  he  appeared 
as  little  less  than  a  visible  reflection  of  the  Almighty. 
"The  Judge"  in  those  days  was  in  public  estimation 
a  very  different  person  from  the  wearer  of  the  same 
title  now,  and  this  particular  Judge — aside  from  the 
fact  that  the  bench  on  which  he  had  sat  was  the  high- 
est in  the  land — ^was  the  very  embodiment  of  dignity. 
His  aspect  would  have  been  pronounced  severe  except 
that  when  engaged  in  social  conversation  the  electric 
flash  of  humor  would  occasionally  illuminate  his 
countenance.  This,  however,  never  happened  in  his 
intercourse  with  his  inferiors.  To  them  he  was  an 
object  of  profound  reverence,  and  the  negroes  would 
have  regarded  any  approach  to  familiarity  with  him, 
even  by  an  ordinary  white  man,  as  an  evidence  of 
insanity. 


140  Some  Memokies  of  My  Life. 

The  Judge  had  stopped  reading,  and  was  watching 
the  old  man  with  an  expression  which  gradually 
changed  from  one  of  preoccupation  to  one  of  amused 
interest.  The  flaxseed  incident  had  escaped  his  at- 
tention. After  observing  him  for  some  time  the 
hopeless  stupidity  of  the  would-be  carpenter  began  to 
be  annoying,  and  finally  when  he  could  stand  it  no 
longer,  the  Judge  arose,  put  down  his  book,  and  step- 
ping out  to  the  work-bench,  said :  "Quash,  you  have 
been  for  nearly  a  half  hour  trying  to  do  what  any 
child  could  do  in  -Kve  minutes — I  am  disgusted  with 
your  stupidity.  Do  you  not  see  that  this  is  the  way 
you  ought  to —  ?" 

Instead  of  manifesting  any  alarm  at  this  sudden 
descent  of  the  Judge  upon  him.  Quash,  interrupting 
and  pointing  to  the  piazza,  said,  in  a  tone  of  re- 
strained impatience: 

"Now,  look  here,  ole  Marster,  you  go  back  in  de 
house.  You  know  all  'bout  readin'  in  de  book,  but 
you  doan  onderstan'  carp'ntrin'  wuck.  Dat's  my  biz- 
ness,  an'  book  is  your  bizness.  Go  back  ter  your 
book,  ole  Marster — go  read  your  book." 

Two  little  negro  boys  who  were  engaged  in  "play- 
ing carriage  horse"  for  the  Judge's  grandson,  a 
youth  of  ten,  and  who  had  just  turned  the  corner 
of  the  house,  stopped  suddenly  at  the  sound  of  the 
Judge's  voice ;  and,  when  Quash's  reply  fell  on  their 
ears,  supposing  that  the  old  man  had  gone  crazy  or 
that  something  awful  was  happening,  the  three,  after 
a  moment's  pause,  fled. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  141 

The  dread  apprehensions  of  the  boys  as  to  the  re- 
sult of  Quash's  rebuke  to  the  Judge,  however,  were 
groundless.  They  did  not  know  that  the  two  used 
to  play  together,  just  as  themselves  were  then  doing, 
and  that,  later.  Quash  used  to  accompany  the  Judge 
on  his  circuits  and  perform  the  arduous  duty  of 
grooming  his  horses,  brushing  his  clothes,  and  black- 
ing his  shoes ;  and  that  his  sole  occupation  for  years 
had  been  the  doing  of  little  odds  and  ends  of  work 
about  the  plantation,  when  not  more  seriously  en- 
gaged in  fishing  or  'coon  hunting.  So  far  from  ex- 
hibiting anger  at  the  old  man's  conduct,  the  Judge, 
although  confounded  for  a  moment,  instantly  turned 
towards  the  piazza,  drew  his  handkerchief,  gave  a 
violent  blast  of  his  nose  to  cover  an  explosion  of 
laughter,  and  walking  slowly  back  resumed  his  seat 
and  book  in  silence,  while  Quash,  agitated  by  the  in- 
cident, fumbled  more  stupidly  than  ever  with  the 
tools,  until  at  last  about  sunset,  after  frequent  fail- 
ures, he  abandoned  the  bench  and  started  to  his 
cabin,  grumbling: 

''What's  de  use  o'  my  th'owin'  dem  flaxseed  ef 
ole  marster  gwine  to  come  walkin'  right  'cross  de 
ring  an'  brek  up  all  de  spell  agin  witch  ?  What  ole 
marster  know  'bout  wuckin'  wid  tool  ?" 

His  pride  was  wounded,  but  his  sense  of  the  ab- 
surdity of  the  Judge's  pretensions  to  a  knowledge 
of  "carp'ntrin'  "  prevailed,  and  he  began  to  chuckle. 

"Yas,  ole  marster  better  min'  he  book,  and  stay 
Vay  fum  dat  bench.     He's  quality,  and  what  any 


142  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

quality  know  'bout  de  likes  o'  wuckin'  wid  tool,  let 
'lone  ole  marster  dat's  de  top  o'  de  quality?" 

He  was  now  passing  through  an  old  field  enclosed 
by  woods,  through  which  meandered  a  little  stream 
on  the  bank  of  which  his  cabin  stood.  His  soliloquy 
was  cut  short  and  he  was  brought  to  a  halt  by  a  bad 
omen  in  the  shape  of  a  rabbit,  which  crossed  the 
path  in  front  of  him  with  two  or  three  short  leaps, 
and  sat  on  his  haunches  under  a  plum  bush,  with  his 
long  ears  erect.  Quash  immediately  made  a  cross- 
mark  in  the  path,  spat  in  it,  and  then,  facing  about, 
walked  backwards  beyond  the  place  crossed  by  the 
rabbit,  after  which  he  began  on  a  new  theme: 

^^Dar  it  is  agin !  Trouble  comin'  sho !  I  know'd 
it  soon's  I  seen  dem  tool  in  dat  ^,  and  now  dat 
same  rabbit  dat  cross  de  path  dis  mornin'  come  hop- 
pin'  cross  agin,"  and  he  began,  in  a  minor  key  and 
with  that  nasal  tremulo  peculiar  to  the  religious 
music  of  his  race,  to  sing  a  hymn  commencing  with 
the  lines: 

"  We'll  drink  out  de  spring 
Dat'll  nuvver  run  dry." 

Peggy  was  Quash's  better  half  (in  more  senses 
than  one)  and,  like  him,  was  not  overburdened  with 
work.  She  had  finished  her  day's  work  before 
Quash  quit  the  carpenter's  bench,  and,  having  pre- 
ceded him  to  the  cabin,  was  engaged  in  ^'bilin'  a 
pot  o'  coffee"  and  frying  some  cat-fish  for  supper. 
When  Quash  came  in  there  was  an  ominous  silence, 
but,  after  a  few  moments,  during  which  the  old  man 


Alfeed  MoofiE  Waddell.  143 

was  examining  his  bait-gourd  to  see  if  the  ^'jeth- 
wurrums''  had  not  crawled  out,  Peggy  turned 
around  and  said : 

"Quash,  what's  dis  I  hear  dem  child'n  say  'bout 
you  sassin'  ole  marster  ?" 

"What  child'n  ?  Who  tell  you  I  sass  ole  marster  ?" 
(Quash  had  not  seen  the  boys.) 

Peggy  replied  that  while  she  was  at  the  wash-tub 
the  boys  had  run  to  her  in  evident  alarm,  and  told 
her  that  they  had  heard  Quash  tell  the  Judge  to  go 
into  the  house  and  mind  his  book,  and  leave  him 
alone. 

In  an  injured,  self-defensive  tone  Quash  answered 
Peggy  as  he  had  answered  in  his  soliloquy,  adding 
that  he  "natally  b'leeved"  that  his  old  master's  de- 
votion to  books  was  bringing  witches  and  "sperrits" 
on  the  plantation,  and  finally,  with  some  defiance  in 
his  voice,  concluded  with: 

"Ef  I  did  tell  ole  marster  he  better  go  back  in  de 
house,  what  den?" 

"You  didn't— you  dar'sn't  tell  ole  marster  dat. 
Quash?"  exclaimed  Peggy.  For  a  moment  there 
was  a  dead  silence,  accentuated  by  the  crackling 
sound  of  the  frying  fish,  and  then  the  old  man  im- 
patiently said : 

"Dem  fish  gwine  bu'n  up  while  you  standin'  dar 
talkin'." 

Peggy  proceeded  with  her  cooking  in  silence,  but 
seemed  lost  in  speculation.  What  could  have  in- 
duced Quash  to  do  so  "owdacious"  a  thing  she  could 


144  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

not  understand.  He  was  not  in  the  habit  of  drink- 
ing, and  gave  no  evidence  of  such  indulgence  now, 
but  she  thought  he  must  have  been  drunk  or  crazy. 
She  was  distressed  and  apprehensive  of  some  e\4L 
The  charm  which  she  usually  carried  about  her 
"agin  wdtch''  was  the  left  hind  foot  of  a  graveyard 
rabbit,  but  she  did  not  always  carry  it,  and  for  some 
time  past  had  laid  it  away  in  the  chimney  jamb. 
She  now  felt  the  need  of  it,  and,  moving  around  the 
fire-place,  reached  out  her  hand  and  felt  for  it,  but 
it  was  gone !  Greatly  agitated  she  turned  to  Quash 
and  said: 

'^Quash,  whereas  de  rabbit (a  tin  pan  fall- 
ing at  that  instant  prevented  him  from  hearing  the 

word  "foot"). 

Quash,  who  had  been  "studyin'  "  about  the  rab- 
bit that  had  crossed  his  path,  but  had  said  nothing  to 
Pegg}^  in  regard  to  it,  arose  quickly,  and  staring  at 
the  old  woman,  said  in  a  hoarse  voice: 

"Peggy,  did  you  see  'm,  too  ?" 

It  was  now  Peggy's  turn  to  stare,  and  to  feel  more 
alarmed  for  Quash's  sanity,  but  she  sharply  replied: 

"See  'm?  How  I  gwine  ter  see  'm  in  de  dark? 
But  I  feel  for  'm  and  he  ain't  dar." 

"Feel  for  'm,  Peggy  ?  What's  de  matter  v^d  you, 
talkin'  'bout  feelin'  for  rabbit  in  de  dark  ?"  said 
Quash,  uneasily. 

An  explanation  followed,  which,  while  it  corrected 
the  mistake  as  to  the  object  of  Peggy's  search,  by  no 
means  reconciled  her    to  its  loss,    especially    after 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  145 

Quash  had  recited  his  experiences  during  the  day. 
She  now  became  satisfied  that  trouble  was  impend- 
ing, and  when  shortly  afterwards  a  screech  owl  be- 
gan to  mutter  his  shivering  complaint  from  the  thick 
foliage  of  a  tree  near  the  cabin,  they  both  started, 
exchanged  glances,  listened  for  the  next  ^'shiver"  and 
Quash  said : 

^'What  I  tell  yer  ?  You  hear  dat  ?"  Peggy  began 
a  diligent  search  for  the  rabbit-foot,  and  a  profound 
silence  settled  on  the  cabin. 

About  the  time  that  Quash  got  to  his  cabin,  which 
was  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  '^great  house,"  a 
well  mounted  negro  servant  passed  down  the  avenue 
leading  from  the  county  road  to  the  house,  and  rid- 
ing to  the  horse-rack,  hitched  his  chestnut-sorrel 
mare,  dismounted  and,  with  hat  in  hand,  entered 
the  piazza,  bowed  awkwardly,  scraped  his  foot  on 
the  floor,  and,  handing  a  note  to  the  Judge,  said : 

"Ole  Marster,  Marse  Maurice  send  me  wid  dis, 
sir,"  and,  again  scraping  his  foot,  stood  waiting. 

The  Judge  opened  the  note  and  read  the  following : 

**  Dear  Father: 

I  did  not  hear  until  this  morning  of  General  Smith's  conduct, 
of  which  I  learn  you  were  informed  a  day  or  two  ago.  I  have 
sent  Jack  Grange  to  him  with  a  note,  and  arrangements  are 
made  for  a  meeting  day  after  to-morrow  morning  at  sunrise 
near  Robbins's  on  the  State  line.  Please  send  Quash,  with 
your  gig,  and  the  mahogany  case  to  me  at  Harvell's  house  to- 
morrow morning.  Affectionately, 

Maueice." 
10 


146  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

The  Judge,  although  anticipating  this  situation, 
read  the  note  with  emotions  which  were  with  dif- 
ficulty concealed.  His  son  was  a  young  planter,  who 
was  very  popular  because  of  his  fine  social  qualities, 
but  was  known  to  be  a  very  high-spirited,  and  reck- 
lessly courageous  man.  The  man  whom  he  had  chal- 
lenged was  much  older  than  himself,  had  held  high 
positions,  and,  although  not  lacking  in  spirit,  was 
a  demagogue.  He  would  have  been  ruined  if  he 
had  refused  the  challenge,  and  knowing  this  he  had 
promptly  accepted  it,  but  he  was  full  of  misgivings. 
He  had,  while  excited  by  drink,  made  a  gross  and  un- 
founded attack  upon  the  Judge's  character  in  a  pub- 
lic place  and  some  of  his  political  adherents  had 
boasted  of  it,  so  that  it  reached  the  ears  of  Col.  Mau- 
rice Moore,  with  the  result  above  stated.  General 
Smith  could  not  retract  without  disgrace  in  the  eyes 
of  his  party,  and  yet,  knowing  his  accusation  against 
the  Judge  to  be  groundless  and  (what  was  more  im- 
portant to  his  own  welfare)  knowing  the  character 
of  the  man  who  had  challenged  him,  he  felt  anxious, 
and  hoped  that  the  affair  might  be  accommodated  in 
some  way  by  mutual  friends.  An  effort  was  made 
in  that  direction,  but  was  sternly  met  by  the  an- 
nouncement that  nothing  less  than  an  apology  in 
writing.,  to  be  dictated  by  Colonel  Moore  could  prevent 
a  meeting.     So  ^^the  affair"  proceeded. 

Judge  Moore  was  sorely  tried.  He  had  heard  of 
the  attack  on  himself  and  knew  if  his  son  heard  of 
it,  a  duel  was  inevitable.     He  was  thinking  of  the 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  147 

matter  at  the  time  Quasli's  stupidity  attracted  his 
attention  and  roused  him  from  his  reverie;  and 
when  the  servant,  several  hours  after,  arrived  with 
the  note  from  his  son,  he  instinctively  knew  before 
reading  it  what  it  contained.  There  was  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  comply  with  the  Colonel's  request  that 
Quash  and  the  mahogany  box  should  be  sent  to  him 
at  Harvell's.  Accordingly  the  next  morning  early 
the  Judge  sent  for  Quash  and  ordered  him  to  hitch 
his  favorite  roadster  to  the  gig,  and  to  hold  himself 
in  readiness  for  service.  Quash,  who  was  always 
proud  to  hold  the  reins,  made  his  preparations  with 
unwonted  activity,  and  soon  appeared  with  the  team, 
himself  arrayed  in  his  Sunday  clothes. 

To  prevent  suspicion,  and  to  keep  Quash  in  ignor- 
ance of  the  purpose  of  his  trip  and  the  sort  of  bag- 
gage he  was  carrying,  the  Judge  put  the  mahogany 
case  in  a  small  trunk,  and  upon  Quash's  arrival  at 
the  door,  ordered  him  to  strap  the  little  trunk  on  the 
gig.  Then,  all  being  ready,  to  the  great  surprise  of 
Quash,  who  expected  the  Judge  to  accompany  him, 
he  handed  to  Quash  a  note,  telling  him  at  the  same 
time  to  drive  do^vn  to  Mr.  HarvelFs  (about  20  miles) 
and  to  deliver  the  note  and  the  trunk  to  Mr.  Harvell. 
Quash  drove  off  with  the  air  of  an  ambassador  and 
the  Judge,  after  a  rapid  walk  on  the  piazza  for  some 
time,  resumed  his  book. 

While  Quash  was  pursuing  his  way  on  one  route. 
Colonel  Moore  and  his  friend  Jack  Grange,  with  Dr. 
Cobham,  were  traveling  from  the  village  on  another 


148  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

to  the  same  point.  The  latter  reached  HarvelFs 
first,  and  not  long  afterward  the  sound  of  wheels  was 
heard,  and  presently  Quash  came  rattling  up  in  a 
style  becoming  the  bearer  of  dispatches,  and  without 
observing  any  particular  person,  dismounted  and 
came  forward.  Just  as  he  was  about  to  inquire  for 
Mr.  Harvell  he  saw  with  astonishment  his  ''Marse 
Maurice,'^  who  at  the  same  time  said: 

"Well,  Quash,  you  have  something  for  me — bring 
it  in.'' 

"1^0,  sir,  Marse  Maurice,  I  ain'  got  nuttin'  for 
you,  sir,  but  ole  marster  gimme  dis  note  for  Mr. 
Harvell,  an'  tell  me  to  gie  him  de  little  trunk  on  de 
gig,  sir." 

"Very  well;  hand  me  the  note  and  bring  in  the 
trunk." 

After  obeying  this  order  Quash  was  directed  to 
stable  his  horse,  and  remain  until  he  received  fur- 
ther orders.  He  retired,  and  at  once  began  to  wonder 
what  was  the  matter.  About  an  hour  later,  while 
discussing  the  merits  of  a  coon  dog  with  Harvell's 
man  Sam,  he  saw  a  carriage  containing  General 
Smith,  General  Swift  and  Dr.  Hill,  pass  by,  and 
heard  General  Swift  call  out  to  Jack  Grange  that  he 
would  meet  him  at  Eobbins's  house  (about  a  mile 
distant)  at  8  o'clock  that  evening. 

Soon  after  this  Colonel  Moore  and  his  party 
strolled  out  toward  the  pines  in  the  rear  of  Harvell's 
house,  and  Quash  observed  that  Jack  Grange  was  car- 
rying under  his  arm  a  mahogany  case  which  looked 


Alfred  Mooee  Waddell.  149 

exactly  like  tlie  one  lie  liad  so  often  seen  in  the 
Judge's  bedroom,  and  which  he  knew  contained  a 
pair  of  duelling  pistols.  Light  now  began  to  dawn  on 
Quash,  and  when,  a  little  while  later,  he  heard  a  shot 
in  the  woods,  followed  every  few  moments  by  another 
and  another,  he  needed  no  further  evidence  to  con- 
vince him  that  Colonel  Moore  was  going  to  fight 
General  Smith,  and  was  now  practicing  at  a  target. 

The  dawning  of  the  truth  upon  him  terrified  him 
greatly,  and  made  him  very  weak  in  the  digestive 
organs,  but  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to 
sneak  out  into  the  woods  and  watch  the  target  prac- 
tice from  a  safe  place  behind  a  tree.  He  got  there 
just  in  time  to  see  Colonel  Moore  standing  erect,  with 
his  face  turned  to  the  right,  pistol  in  hand,  Dr.  Cob- 
ham  sitting  at  the  root  of  a  big  pine,  and  Jack 
Grange  standing  a  few  paces  to  one  side,  and  to  hear 
Jack  say  in  a  clear  voice : 

"Are  you  ready?     Fire,  one,  two — " 

Then  he  saw  the  pistol  fly  to  a  level,  heard  the  re- 
port, and  saw  the  skinned  place  on  a  sapling  about 
ten  paces  in  front  of  the  Colonel. 

"I  think  that  will  do,  Maurice,"  said  Jack,  and 
the  pistols  were  returned  to  the  case,  after  being  care- 
fully cleaned,  and  the  party  returned  to  the  house, 
leaving  Quash  alone  behind  the  tree  in  the  woods. 

When  the  sound  of  their  footsteps  had  faded, 
Quash  drew  a  long  breath,  and  said: 

"Please  God,  somebody  gwine  dead,  now!  Ef 
Marse  Maurice  hit  dat  little  saplin'  quick  as  dat. 


150  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

how  a  big  man  like  Gin'l  Smith  gwine  keep  fum 
gittin'  hit  ?  Mebbe  Gin'l  Smith  shoot  so,  too,  and 
den  what  ?  Lawd,  Lawd !  I  wish  I  was  home  wid 
Peggy — an'  I  gwine  dar,  too,  ef  Marse  Maurice'll 
lemme.  I  don't  beleeve  Mr.  Harvell'  feed  good  for 
ole  marster  horse,  nohow,  an'  he  better  be  home." 

Upon  his  return  to  the  house  Quash  suggested  in 
the  most  insinuating  and  deferential  manner  to  the 
Colonel  that  the  Judge  would  be  wanting  him  at 
home,  but  was  almost  paralyzed  by  the  reply  that  his 
services  would  be  required  at  daylight  the  next  morn- 
ing. He  retired  to  Sam's  cabin,  which  he  had  been 
invited  to  share,  but  when  he  sat  down  to  supper 
the  phenomenal  appetite  for  which  he  was  celebrated 
did  not  appear —  which  Sam  attributed  to  the  fact 
that  Quash  was  a  '^quality  nigger"  and  accustomed 
to  better  food  than  that  set  before  him ;  but  he  was 
soon  undeceived  by  Quash,  who  found  his  burden  too 
heavy  to  carry. 

^'Brer  Sam,"  said  he,  ^'I's  obleeged  to  tell  yer  dat 
dere's  sump'n  a-wei'ghin'  on  my  sperrit.  I'se  dat 
oneasy  in  my  min'  dat  I  can't  eat.  What's  all  dese 
gemmen  doin'  here,  does  you  know?" 

"No,"  said  Sara,  "I  dunno  what  dey  come  here 
fur,  but  I  was  s'posin'  when  dey  fust  come  dat  dey 
was  gwine  drivin'  in  de  big  bay* — only  I  ain't  see 
no  dog,  yit." 

"No,"   replied   Quash,   "and  yer   ain't  gwine  ter 


*  Deer  hunting  in  the  "  bays,"  or  evergreen  swamps. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  151 

see  no  dog,  an'  dey  ain't  gwine  drivin'  in  de  big  bay. 
Man,  I  tell  yer,  dere's  wuss'n  any  drivin'  a-gwine 
on.  Dere's  trouble  a-comin'.  Dey  never  toi'  me, 
but  I  know'd  sum'pn  was  gwine  ter  happen,  an' 
sump'n  bad,  too.  I  seed  de  signs — more'n  one  uv 
'em,  too.  What  my  carp'nter  tool  all  git  outen  fix 
for  ?  An'  what  rabbit  hoppin'  'cross  de  road  for  ? 
An'  squeech  owl  cryin'  for?  Did  yer  hear  dat 
shootin'  out  dar  in  de  woods  dis  evenin'  ?  Dat 
wasn't  no  gun — hit  was  pistils;  an'  I  know  'zactly 
whar  dem  pistils  come  from — dey  come  out'n  ole 
marster's  room.  I  see  Marse  Jack  Grange  carryin' 
a  box  under  he  arm  and  I  know  dat  minute  it  been 
old  marster  pistil-box.  Den  I  foller  'em  in  de  woods, 
and,  sho  nuff,  I  see  Marse  Maurice  standin'  up  wid 
a  pistil  in  'e  hand,  an'  I  hear  Marse  Jack  Grange 
gie  de  word,  an'  Marse  Maurice  shoot  at  a  saplin', 
an'  he  hit  'im,  too.  Den  dey  go  back  in  de  house, 
an'  Marse  Maurice  tell  me  he  want  me  soon  as  day- 
break in  de  mornin'.  Dere's  trubble,  man,  I  tell 
yer.     Dere's  gwine  to  be  fightin'  wid  dem  pistils." 

Sam's  eyes  had  gradually  expanded  during  this 
recital  until,  at  its  conclusion,  they  and  his  under 
lip  seemed  to  constitute  the  only  features  in  his  face. 
He  seemed  transfixed  by  the  announcement,  but  soon 
rallied  and  excitedly  asked  Quash  whom  he  thought 
the  Colonel  was  going  to  fight. 

"I  don't  think  nuthin'  'bout  it — I  knows.  Gin'I 
Smith  'buse  ole  marster,  an'  he  might  er  know  he 
got  to  fio^ht  atter  dat  wid  Marse  Maurice.  Didn't 
you  see  dat  cah'ige  come  'long  here  dis  evenin'  wid 


152  Some  Memories  oe  My  Life. 

Gin'l  Smith,  and  Gin'l  Swift  an'  Dr.  Hill  settin' 
in  'em  ?  Bofe  o'  'em's  got  a  doctor  'long,  and  dat 
means  dare's  de'th  in  de  win'." 

Quash  thereupon  related  some  marvellous  stories 
about  the  duels  fought  by  the  ^'quality"  in  his  earlier 
days. 

The  next  morning  at  daylight  the  party  at  Har- 
vell's  were  up,  and  Quash,  who,  during  the  night, 
had  seen  more  visions  of  pistols,  dead  men,  coffins 
and  the  like  than  would  fill  a  volume  of  description, 
reported  to  Colonel  Moore  in  a  frame  of  mind  which 
well  fitted  him  to  lead  at  a  camp  meeting.  The 
Colonel  ordered  him  to  take  a  seat  by  the  driver,  and 
entering  the  carriage,  the  party  drove  off  to  the  State 
line  about  a  half-mile  distant.  As  they  neared  Rob- 
bins's  house  they  saw  General  Smith's  party  prepar- 
ing to  leave,  and  when  they  reached  the  duelling 
ground,  the  latter  were  close  behind  them.  The  usual 
preliminaries  followed,  and  while  the  ground  was  be- 
ing marked  off,  the  cases  taken  out,  and  the  weapons 
mutually  examined  and  loaded,  the  driver  of  Col- 
onel Moore's  carriage  realizing  for  the  first  time  what 
was  about  to  happen,  became  almost  speechless  with 
terror.  Quash  again  sneaked  behind  a  big  tree  and 
began  to  pray  His  remarks  were  not  very  coherent, 
and  they  were  punctuated  by  frequent  peeps  around 
the  tree  towards  the  dueling  party.  The  current  of 
his  exclamatory  petition  was  obstructed,  indeed,  he 
suddenly  and  entirely  suspended  his  prayer,  when  in 
one  of  his  peeps    around  the    tree    he  saw  General 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  153 

Smith,  after  a  moment  of  apparent  conference  with 
the  seconds,  violently  jerk  off  his  coat,  then  his  vest, 
then  his  shirt,  and  finally  his  undershirt,  and  stand, 
stripped  to  the  waist,  in  the  full  glare  of  the  rising 
sun.  He  was  a  large  man  and  presented  a  shining 
mark.  His  extraordinarv  conduct  was  caused  by  a 
suggestion  from  one  of  the  seconds  that  their  princi- 
pals ought  to  be  clothed  only  in  their  ordinary  dress, 
which  General  Smith  construed  to  be  an  insinuation 
that  he  might  be  wearing  some  protecting  substance 
next  his  skin,  and  which  he  resented  in  this  dramatic 
style. 

Thereupon  Colonel  Moore  asked  the  seconds  to  ex- 
amine his  own  clothing,  after  which  he  resumed  his 
place. 

All  this  was  a  horrible  and  mysterious  pantomime 
to  Quash,  who  could  not  hear  what  was  said.  The 
men  were  now  placed,  the  pistols  given  to  them,  the 
seconds  took  their  positions,  and  for  a  moment  there 
was  a  painful  silence,  emphasized  by  the  sighing  of 
the  pines. 

Jack  Grange,  by  a  toss-up,  had  won  the  right  to 
give  the  word,  and  his  steady,  measured  voice, — 
which  sounded  to  Quash's  ears  like  Gabriel's  trum- 
pet proclaiming  the  Judgment, — -rang  out: 

"Gentlemen,  are  you  ready  V' 

"Ready,"  both  replied. 

Quash  closed  his  eyes  and  groaned,  and  the  car- 
riage-driver, with  protruding  eyes,  and  knees  beating 
a  tattoo  against  each  other,  stood  terror-stricken. 

''Fire!    One—" 


154  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

The  reports  from  the  two  pistols  were  nearly  sim- 
ultaneous, and  instantly — in  pursuance  of  the  terms 
agreed  on,  that,  after  firing,  each  should  advance  a 
step.  Colonel  Moore  gave  a  long  stride  toward  his  an- 
tagonist and  stood  erect.  General  Smith  staggered, 
and  dropped  his  pistol,  while  a  stream  of  hlood  ran 
down  his  naked  side. 

Quash,  frenzied  with  excitement,  shouted  '^Glory," 
and  the  carriage-driver  howled. 

General  Smith's  wound  was  at  first  supposed  to  be 
dangerous,  if  not  mortal,  the  ball  having  entered 
his  right  side,  but  Colonel  Moore,  as  he  was  retiring, 
remarked  to  Jack  Grange  that  he  believed  it  was 
only  a  flesh  wound,  and  that  he  would  ^'like  to  take 
another  crack  at  him."  It  turned  out  that  Colonel 
Moore  was  right,  as  the  ball  had  struck  a  rib  and 
ploughed  around  his  body.  He  lost  a  great  deal  of 
blood,  however,  which,  with  the  shock,  made  him 
faint,  and  the  surgeons  made  him  lie  down.  The 
grass  had  been  burned  and  left  a  black  stubble. 

Just  then  Quash  rushed  to  Colonel  Moore  and,  see- 
ing him  talking  quietly  to  Jack  Grange,  burst  into 
tears  and  dropping  on  his  knees  and  clasping  the 
Colonel,  said  hysterically : 

^To,  God,  Marse  Maurice,  you  ain't  hu't  a  bit,  is 
yer  ?" 

"]^o.  Quash,"  replied  the  Colonel,  "he  missed  me, 
but  it  was  a  close  shave.  Look  here,"  and  he  pointed 
to  the  broken  threads  of  a  missing  button  on  the 
breast  of  his  coat. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  155 

Quash  bounded  to  his  feet  like  a  youth,  clapped 
his  hands,  and  fairly  bent  himself  double  in  a  par- 
oxysm of  delight,  which  Colonel  Moore  cut  short  by 
ordering  him  to  go  to  the  surgeons  and  say  that  Col- 
onel Moore  had  sent  him  to  wait  on  General  Smith 
if  needed. 

The  aversion  which  Quash  had  to  such  service  was 
overcome  by  his  curiosity  to  see  the  wounded  man, 
and  find  out  whether  he  was  going  to  die  or  not.  He 
went,  but  his  services  were  not  needed.  Yet,  during 
the  few  moments  he  remained  he  used  his  eyes  and 
ears  actively,  and  this,  with  a  tropical  imagination, 
furnished  an  immense  amount  of  material  for  the 
stories  he  told  until  the  day  of  his  death  about  this 
duel. 

He  returned  to  Colonel  Moore  in  a  very  cheerful 
mood,  and  after  reporting  that  his  services  were  de- 
clined, he  said: 

^'Marse  Maurice,  I  don'  bleeve  Gin'l  Smith  g^ine 
dead,  but  he  suttinly  is  a  curus  lookin'  gen'lman,  to 
be  sho'.  He  nekked  flesh  all  cover  wid  blood,  and 
smear'  up  wid  de  black  stubble  whar  de  grass  bin 
bu'n  wid  de  fire,  and  he  look,  Marse  Maurice,  pint 
blank  like  a  skin'  beef  dat  fall  off'n  de  peg  in  de 
ashes." 

Jack  Grange  burst  into  a  laugh  and  Colonel  Moore 
ordered  Quash  to  the  carriage,  where,  finding  the 
driver  partially  recovered,  but  still  demoralized. 
Quash  proceeded  with  a  grand  air  to  reproach  him 
for  his  cowardice.     Soon  the  carriage  was  occupied 


156  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

as  before,  and  the  party,  leaving  General  Smith  to  be 
brought  more  slowly  to  Robbins's  house,  returned  to 
HarvelFs  to  breakfast. 

With  every  foot  of  the  way  Quash's  spirits  rose 
higher  and  higher,  until,  when  he  met  Sam  again, 
he  squealed  with  hilarity.  He  told  Sam  the  most 
stupendous  lies  about  what  had  occurred  on  the  duel- 
ling ground,  especially  in  regard  to  the  cool  and  bus- 
iness-like manner  in  which  he  himself  had  assisted 
in  the  affair,  and  of  the  evident  fright  of  the  whole 
Smith  party.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  assert  that  Gen- 
eral Smith  "hollered"  when  shot,  and  that  his  Marse 
Maurice  had  to  be  forcibly  removed  from  the  ground 
to  keep  him  from  finishing  Smith  with  a  large  knife. 
And  when  he  finally  reached  home,  driving  Colonel 
Moore  in  a  gig,  and  when,  after  embracing  his  son, 
the  judge,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  said : 

"Well,  Quash,  did  you  deliver  the  note  and  trunk 
to  Mr.  Harvell  V^  he  squealed  again,  and  replied : 

"Ole  marster,  go  read  yer  book." 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  157 

CHAPTEE  VII. 

A  Rebel  Brigadier  in  Northern  New  England. 

In  tlie  year  1880,  I  was  appointed  a  delegate  at 
large  to  the  Democratic  National  Convention  which 
met  at  Cincinnati  and  nominated  General  Hancock 
for  President,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  conven- 
tion, upon  the  urgent  solicitation  of  a  number  of 
prominent  gentlemen,  I  went  immediately  to  New 
York,  and  thence  to  New  England  to  engage  in  the 
canvass  as  a  speaker.  No  ex-Confederate  had  up  to 
that  time  been  invited  to  "stump"  those  States  in  a 
political  campaign,  and  it  was  believed  that  some 
good  might  be  accomplished  by  making  the  venture. 
We  had  a  thorough  and  stirring  campaign  of  Ver- 
mont in  the  hope  of  reducing  the  usual  Republican 
majority  in  that  stronghold  of  our  opponents — which 
proved  to  be  a  vain  hope — and  I  made  some  speeches 
in  Maine  and  later  in  New  York,  where  I  felt  more 
at  home.  This  service  consumed  five  months  of  fruit- 
less labor,  so  far  as  the  election  of  the  Democratic 
candidate  was  concerned,  but  in  other  respects  my 
experience  was  a  very  pleasant  one. 

This  experience  was  embodied  in  a  series  of  letters 
to  The  Raleigh  Observer,  then  edited  by  Capt.  S. 
A.  Ashe,  under  the  title,  "A  Rebel  Brigadier  in 
Northern  New  England,"  and  as  these  letters  wem 
cordially  received  both  at  home  and  in  New  England, 
and  were    never  put    in  permanent  form,    I  insert 


158  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

them  here  as  a  part  of  these  reminiscences,  and  as 
illustrative  of  that  period. 

A  Rebel  Bkigadier  ii:^  Northern  New  England. 

No.  1. 

^'That  rebel  brigadier  who  has  been  speaking 
around  here  with  you  has  gone  away,  hasn't  he  ?''  in- 
quired a  stalwart  Vermonter  of  my  friend  Major  H. 

"Yes,  sir;  he  has  gone  to  the  State  of  Maine." 

"Well,  there's  no  use  in  denying  it,  he's  a  dan- 
gerous man,  in  my  opinion." 

"Dangerous  ?     How  ?     What  do  you  mean  ?" 

"I  mean  that  he's  just  the  smoothest  liar  I  ever 
heard  in  all  my  life." 

Reader,  if  this  estimate  of  him,  honestly  and  se- 
riously given,  did  not  completely  satisfy  the  person 
alluded  to,  he  must  be  insensible  to  flattery,  and 
stump  oratory  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare. 

There  was  no  anger  in  the  voice  or  manner  of  the 
Vermonter.  He  pronounced  his  judgment  precisely 
as  he  would  have  done  upon  a  juggler  whose  per- 
formance had  surprised  him,  or  a  "medium"  whose 
revelations,  though  discredited,  has  left  an  uncom- 
fortable impression  on  him. 

"Yes,"  he  continued,  "he  told  a  nice,  pretty  story, 
and  he  couldn't  have  told  it  with  a  straighter  face 
if  it  had  all  been  true.  Some  folks  did  believe  what 
he  said,  and  talked  like  they  were  sorry  about  it, 
but  I  didn't  take  any  stock  in  him,  and  didn't  believe 
a  word  of  what  he  was  talking  about." 

A  short  time  after  this  conversation,  when  the  last 
of  the  back  counties  had  been  heard  from,  it  became 
painfully  evident  that  the  woods  of  Vermont  wero 
full  of  just  such  incredulous  persons.     And  yet  the 


Alfred  Mooue  Waddell.  159 

tale  that  was  told  was  literally  and  historically  true, 
and  was  recited  in  a  kindly  and  patriotic  spirit.  It 
failed,  and  the  question  has  often  thrust  itself  upon 
the  rebel  man,  ''How  and  when  can  we  secure  the 
confidence  of  our  Northern  countrymen  V  That 
question  was  answered  last  summer  by  a  Vermont 
candidate  for  Congress  (since  elected)  thus: 

"When  the  rebels  all  go  back  to  their  plantations, 
and  go  to  work,  and  lei  politics  alone  entirely  then 
we  will  trust  them,  and  not  before,"  which  suggestion 
affords  strong  ground  for  the  belief  that  a  new  light 
is  about  to  break  upon  the  House  of  Representatives. 

But,  notwithstanding  his  failure  to  effect  any  po- 
litical change,  so  far  as  votes  were  concerned,  the 
"rebel  brigadier"  (who  enjoys  the  title  but  never 
obtained  the  rank)  has  reason  to  rejoice  at  the  oppor- 
tunity afforded  him  of  spending  some  weeks  of  unre- 
strained intercourse  among  the  people  of  northern 
New  England,  for  it  enabled  him  to  get  a  nearer 
view  of  them  than  he  had  ever  taken  before,  although 
he  is  by  no  means  a  stranger  to  Northern  cities.  His 
experience  was  a  most  interesting  one  in  every  way, 
and  thoroughly  convinced  him  of  what  he  had  pre- 
viously believed  to  be  true,  viz:  That  ignorance, 
which  Father  Tom  says  "is  the  true  mother  of  piety," 
is  and  always  has  been  the  parent  of  sectionalism 
in  both  ends  of  the  Union. 

The  masses  in  each  section  flatter  themselves  with 
the  belief  that  they  know  all  about  the  people  in 
the  other  section,  their  social  and  political  life  and 
material  development,  when  the  truth  is  that  their 
mutual  ignorance  is  amazing,  and  often  ludicrous. 
Regarding  the  discovery  of  a  cure  for  this  state  of 
things  as  the  one  thing  needful  for  the  future  peace 
and  prosperity  of  the  whole  country,  but   (in  view 


160  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

of  the  intensely  partisan  character  of  the  press)  de- 
spairing of  a  remedy,  the  rebel  brigadier  can  only 
tender  his  sympathy  to  such  as,  like  himself,  are 
honestly  regretful  at  the  situation.  He  is  not  looked 
to  for  a  cure,  and  any  suggestion  of  a  possible  rem- 
edy  would  be  considered  an  impertinence  in  him. 

The  first  thing  that  impressed  itself  upon  him 
after  his  arrival  and  introduction  to  the  public  was 
the  manifest  curiosity  exhibited  to  see  him  and  hear 
what  he  had  to  say,  and  it  was  simply  impossible  for 
him  to  avoid  thinking  of  Barnum  in  this  connection, 
especially  when  a  virtuous  citizen,  disappointed  at 
his  civilized  dress  and  demeanor,  vehemently  pro- 
nounced him  to  be  a  counterfeit  and  not  a  genuine 
rebel.  There  was  no  lack  of  courtesy  from  his  polit- 
ical opponents ;  indeed,  the  opposing  press  w^as  even 
complimentary  in  its  notices  of  one  w^hom  it  regarded 
as  a  singularly  tame  specimen  of  the  animal  whose 
habits  it  was  accustomed  to  delineate.  As  for  the 
''rebel  sympathizers,"  a  name  applied  to  all  Demo- 
crats, whether  they  had  been  Union  soldiers  or  not — 
it  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  their  kindness  and  hos- 
pitality was  without  limit.  And,  speaking  of  sol- 
diers, he  hastens  to  say  that,  with  rarest  exceptions, 
that  element  of  the  population,  without  distinction 
of  party  association,  was,  perhaps,  the  most  cordial 
in  its  expression  of  friendship  and  good  will,  a  dis- 
position which  his  experience  proves  to  be  very  gen- 
eral throughout  the  North  among  the  men  who  did 
the  fighting  for  the  Union. 

When,  through  the  medium  of  "stump"  speeches 
and  social  intercourse,  he  had  established  pleasant 
relations  with  the  people,  the  most  common  topic  of 
conversation  was,  of  course,  the  situation  of  affairs 
in  the  South,  and  whenever  such  a  conversation  was 


Alfred  Moore  Waddeel.  161 

held  he  was  forced  to  express  his  siu'iDrise   at  the 
questions  asked  and  the  hearsay   testimony  he  was 
called  on  to  meet,  coming,  too,  not  always  from  those 
whose   opportunities   for   information   were   limited, 
but  from  persons  of  liberal  education,  ample  means' 
and  occupying  public  positions  of  trust,     ^ever  was 
he  so  deeply  impressed  with  the  power  of  the  press 
m  moulding  public  opinion.     He  knew  what  it  had 
been,  though  now  greatly  weakened,  in  the  South; 
but  he  was  hardly  prepared  to  believe  the  extent  of  it 
in  j\Tew  England,     l^ewspaper  readers  in  the  South 
have  always  been  few  in  comparison  with  the  popu- 
lation, and  the  political  education  of  the  people  has 
been  largely  derived  from  public  speaking  and  the 
joint  debates  of  candidates  for  office;   but  in  ]S^ew 
England  nearly  everybody  takes  a  newspaper,   and 
as   a  large  majority  of  these   are   of   the   dominant 
political  faith  of  that  section,  and  daily  feed  their 
readers  with  food  calculated  to  strengthen  that  faith, 
and  as  joint  discussions  between  opposing  candidates 
are  almost  known  there,  these  papers  become  the  po- 
litical Bibles  of  the  people,  and  their  statements  of 
fact  are  accepted  as  absolutely  true.     Of  course  this 
IS  the  case,  in  greater  or  lesser  degree,  in  all  parts 
of  the  country,  but  nowhere  to  such  an  extent  as  in 
northern  'New  England. 

^^ JTell  me,  now,  just  between  ourselves,"  said  one 
if  you  think  it  would  be  safe  for  me  to  travel  do^^Ti 
through  your  section." 

I'/^^f  ^^^  negroes    really    allowed    to    go  to  the 
polls?"  asked  another. 

^    ''Could  a  JS^orthem  Eepublican  express  his  opin- 
ions without  the  risk  of  being  killed  ?"  asked  a  great 
many,  and  all  asked  seriously  and  in  ^ood  faith  "^ 
11 


162  Some  Memories  of  My  Life 

The  answers  to  such  questions  were  generally  re- 
ceived with  incredulity,  if  their  correctness  was  not 
positively  denied,  and  that,  too,  perhaps  by  men  who 
had  never  been  one  hundred  miles  from  their  homes 
in  any  direction.  And  in  this  way  the  drafts  on  his 
patience,  his  good  breeding  and  amiability  were 
rather  exhausting  to  the  rebel  brigadier,  but  they 
were  met  with  such  temper  as  he  could  command — 
"interest  added."  He  could  not  help  remembering, 
when  such  questions  were  propounded  to  him,  a  hun- 
dred instances  in  his  own  personal  experience  which 
gave  the  lie  to  the  inferences  suggested  by  them. 
He  remembered  how — so  far  from  its  being  danger- 
ous for  a  I^orthern  man  to  express  his  opinions — men 
of  no  character  at  all,  as  well  as  men  claiming  re- 
spectability, had  been  in  the  habit  of  standing  in  the 
market  places  of  his  own  city,  boasting  that  they 
were  Yankees,  and  uttering  the  most  seditious  and 
incendiary  sentiments  to  large  crowds  of  black  men, 
and  doing  this  without  apprehending  or  experiencing 
the  least  injury  to  themselves.  He  remembered  more 
than  one  instance  where  these  unfortunate  negroes, 
inflamed  by  such  appeals,  had  absolutely  attempted 
the  driving  of  the  whites  from  the  public  streets  by 
force  of  arms.  And,  in  answer  to  the  query  whether 
the  blacks  were  allowed  to  vote,  he  had  only  to  depict 
the  polling  places  in  the  city  in  which  he  resides  on 
election  day,  when  the  man  and  brother  deposits,  in 
peace,  ballots  too  numerous  to  mention. 

It  was  useless  to  say  that  in  his  own  State  every 
facility  which  the  law  afforded  to  the  white  man  was 
equally  enjoyed  by  the  negro ;  that  he  held  offices, 
sat  on  juries,  had  equal  protection  for  his  person  and 
property,  received  for  educational  purposes  the  same 
amount,  dollar  for  dollar,  in  proportion  to  numbers, 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  163 

and  had  (what  no  other  State  afforded)  a  separate 
asylum  for  the  insane,  built  and  paid  for  out  of  the 
general  taxes.  It  all  sounded,  as  the  Vermonter 
said,  ''mighty  nice,"  but— he  didn't  believe  a  word  of 
it,  or,  at  least,  not  enough  to  justify  him  in  putting 
any  confidence  whatever  in  the  political  integrity  and 
'Royalty"  of  Southern  white  men.  And  so  the  labors 
of  the  rebel  brigadier  became  fatiguing  almost  from 
the  outset,  but  his  hope  of  producing  some  modifica- 
tion of  the  general  distrust  did  not  entirely  expire, 
because  his  faith  in  the  better  nature  of  the  Amer- 
ican citizen  was  strong.  This  faith  was  not  wholly 
unjustified,  for,  despite  the  result  of  the  election, 
a  kindlier  and  more  reasonable  disposition  towards 
the  Southern  people  prevailed  at  the  end  of  the  cam- 
paign than  existed  at  the  beginning.  The  repudi- 
ation of  any  feeling  of  enmity  towards  them  was 
more  earnestly  expressed,  and  the  existence  of  dif- 
ferences between  the  people  of  the  two  sections  in 
politics  was  more  generally  regretted. 

Still,  the  want  of  correct  information  as  to  the 
real  temper  and  aspirations  of  the  people  of  the 
South  is  lamentable.  It  can  not  be  denied  that  there 
is  yet  a  considerable  portion  of  the  population  of 
K"ew^  England  who  believe  that  the  mass  of  the 
Southerners  cherish  a  secret  hostility  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  fact  that  there  seems  to  be  some  con- 
fusion of  ideas  as  to  whether  the  Eepublican  party 
and  the  government  are  not  synonymous  terms  does 
not  affect  the  conclusion  in  the  least.  Nor  can  it  be 
denied  that  a  very  large  share  of  the  responsibility 
for  this  grievous  mistake  and  wrong  rests  upon  the 
shoulders  of  newspaper  editors  and  corresjwndents. 
It  might  be  considered  unreasonable  to  expect  the 
conductors  of  party  newspapers  to  subordinate-  party 


164  Some  Memokies  of  My  Life. 

interests  to  the  public  welfare,  but  the  history  of  the 
country  can  scarcely  furnish  a  clearer  illustration  of 
the  antagonism  which  may  exist  between  them  than 
this.  How  the  country  is  to  be  benefited  by  instill- 
ing into  the  minds  of  the  rising  generation  at  the 
Xorth  the  belief  that  their  countrymen  of  the  South 
are  secret  enemies  and  conspirators  against  the  peace 
and  dignity  of  the  nation,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
show,  unless  the  elevation  of  a  particular  class  of 
politicians  into  office  for  a  season  is  to  be  accounted 
a  benefit  to  the  public.  What  the  ultimate  effect  of 
such  teaching  must  be  does  not  admit  of  discussion  or 
doubt,  and  therefore  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  spirit 
which  prompts  it  will  soon  die  out  of  the  hearts  in 
which  it  now  dwells. 

Very  soon  after  the  rebel  brigadier  began  to  make 
acquaintance  with  the  Vermonters,  he  discovered  the 
source  of  the  recent  impetus  which  had  been  given  to 
their  anti-Southern  feelings.  He  had  not  been  in 
the  State  forty-eight  hours  before  he  was  asked  if  he 
had  read  ''The  FooFs  Errand."  He  had  read  it,  and 
he  commented  on  it  in  a  much  better  spirit,  he  hopes, 
than  inspired  the  author  of  that  remarkable  book, 
and  its  after-birth,  ^'Bricks  Without  Straw,''  two 
works  which  demonstrate  the  author's  great  capacity 
as  a  writer,  a  thinker,  and — a  hater. 

It  is  impossible  for  one  who  reverences  intellect 
of  a  superior  order  for  its  own  sake,  and  without 
regard  to  the  tenement  which  it  occupies,  and  who  is 
animated  by  generous  sentiments,  not  to  regret,  af- 
ter reading  these  books — and  especially  the  first 
named  one — that  the  brain-power  which  produced 
them  had  not  been  associated  with  a  nature  which 
would  have  directed  its  first  great  effort  to  a  nobler 
theme.     But  then,  there  would  not,  probably,  have 


Alfred  Mooee  Waddell.  165 

been  so  much  money  in  it,  nor  such  an  opportimity 
to  gratify  that  passion  which  is  said  to  be  so  sweet 
to  its  possessor — revenge.  The  hiss  of  the  adder  is 
in  the  rustle  of  the  leaves  of  these  books,  and  read- 
ing them  is  like  smelling  a  bouquet,  or  drinking  a 
glass  of  wine  used  sometimes  to  be  in  the  days  of 
Lucretia  Borgia.  They  are  deadly  poison  to  the  sen- 
timent of  friendship  and  union  among  the  American 
people.  They  contain  the  latest  revised  and  amend- 
ed edition  of  the  gospel  of  hate — and  they  are  sold 
by  the  thousands.  The  rebel  brigadier  was,  so  to 
speak,  shelled  at  long  range,  and  then  assaulted  in 
front,  flank  and  rear  with  a  storm  of  these  missiles, 
until,  had  it  7iot  been  for  his  faith  in  the  irresist- 
ible jDOwer  of  kindness  and  patience,  he  might  have 
thought  that  he  himself,  in  trying  to  promote  the 
public  good  by  appealing  to  the  heart  and  conscience 
of  the  i^orthern  people  in  behalf  of  their  Southern 
countrymen,  was  also  engaged  in  a  fool's  errand; 
but  he  has  not,  even  yet,  arrived  at  that  conclusion, 
for  he  still  hopes  that  the  old  gentleman  with  the 
hour  glass  will  prove  to  be  h^s  faithful  ally.  Tour- 
gee's  books  have,  however,  done  great  harm,  and  will 
continue  to  do  so,  inasmuch  as  they  are  insidious 
and  powerful  political  essays,  the  sole  object  of 
which  (except  as  a  commercial  venture)  and  the 
certain  effect  of  which  is  to  perpetuate  in  a  new 
generation  sentiments  of  hatred  and  contempt  for 
the  social,  political  and  industrial  ideas  of  the 
Southern  people,  and  to  cause  them  forever  to  look 
upon  the  territory  occupied  by  those  people  as  still, 
according  to  right  and  justice,  an  estate  lost  by  bad 
management  for  a  time,  but  improperly  withhold 
from  and  ultimately  and  properly  to  belong  to  and 
be  governed  by  them.     The  method  by  which  the  es- 


166  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

tate  is  to  be  recovered  does  not  seem  to  be  very 
clearly  defined,  but  the  idea  is  more  than  a  mere 
floating  one.  Of  course  it  is  impossible  of  realiza- 
tion so  long  as  the  least  remnant  of  the  Constitution 
is  left,  and  therefore  the  suggestion  of  it  is  the  more 
wicked  and  inexcusable  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  re- 
gard the  provisions  of  that  instrument  as  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land,  aot  only  when  they  find  it  to  their 
interest  to  so  regard  them,  but  at  all  times  and  under 
all  circumstances. 

At  the  outset  the  rebel  brigadier  was  called  upon 
to  calm  the  anxious  souls  of  sundry  and  divers  per- 
sons, who,  never  having  enveloped  their  manly  forms 
in  a  blue  suit  when  real  danger  threatened  the 
Union,  and  therefore  having,  according  to  the  North- 
ern practice,  become  the  rightful  possessors  of  all 
the  offices,  were  terribly  alarmed  lest  the  rebels 
should  take  possession  of  the  government,  including 
the  offices,  and  thereupon  proceed  to  cut  fantastic 
tricks  before  the  astonished  gaze  of  the  true  and 
loyal  people  thereof.  He  had  to  '^rassle,''  as  it  were, 
with  a  torchlight  procession  of  weird  conundrums, 
each  of  which  in  succession  waved  its  torch  inquir- 
ingly towards  a  skeleton  clad  in  gray.  He  confesses 
that  this  ghostly  exercise,  daily  indulged  in,  was  very 
tiresome  morally,  intellectually  and  physically.  It 
is  true  that  he  regularly  knocked  the  procession  into 
inextricable  confusion  whenever  it  passed  by,  but 
he  did  long  and  pine  for  exemption  from  the  neces- 
sity for  this  sort  of  exercise.  His  wish  was  never 
completely  gratified,  however,  although  the  per- 
formance was,  towards  the  last,  sometimes  varied 
by  the  substitution  of  the  tariff  for  the  torchlight 
procession,  when  anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  the 
wretched  laboring  man  kept  the  rich  manufacturers 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  167 

awake  day  and  night,  although  many  of  the  ungrate- 
ful creatures  could  not  understand  or  appreciate  their 
tender  care,  and  seemed  totally  blind  to  the  dangers 
which  they  were  told  menaced  them. 

Leaving  his  political  experience  for  the  present, 
and  turning  to  the  social  life  of  New^  England,  there 
were  many  peculiarities  that  attracted  his  attention, 
and  some  that  excited  his  admiration.  If  there  is 
one  characteristic  more  universally  apparent  than 
another  among  the  people,  it  is  self-dependence  in 
everything.  It  is,  to  a  Southerner,  more  observable 
in  the  women,  because  less  expected  there,  but  the 
woman  who  does  not  display  this  characteristic  is 
the  exception  in  her  neighborhood.  It  may  be  said 
with  entire  accuracy  that  if  am'  person  in  that 
country  wants  anything  done,  that  person  does  it,  un- 
less it  requires  more  than  one,  and  the  rule  holds 
good  with  all  ages,  classes  and  sexes.  Whenever 
*'help"  is  employed,  it  is  needed.  There  are  no  su- 
pernumeraries, and  there  is  absolutely  no  waste. 
One  family  in  the  South,  of  a  given  condition  as 
to  means,  w^ill  waste  more  than  ten  families  of  like 
condition  in  Vermont.  Of  course  there  are  excep- 
tions to  these  general  statements,  but  they  are  not 
numerous. 

The  absence  of  male  waiters  at  the  hotels  and 
eating  houses  in  Vermont  is  one  of  the  things 
that  first  strike  the  stranger.  Unless,  perhaps,  we 
except  an  occasional  superintendent  of  a  dining  room, 
it  is  questionable  if  there  is  a  male  hotel  waiter  in  the 
State;  and  what  still  more  forcibly  strikes  a  South- 
erner is  the  fact  that,  in  many  instances,  the  hand- 
some young  lady  who  waits  on  him  is  a  graduate, 
and  very  possibly  the  daughter  of  some  prominent 
citizen  of  "the  village" — as  most  of  the  towns  are 
called — which  accounts  for  the  slender  appetite  of 


168  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

young  men  from  the  South  upon  their  first  arrival  iii 
the  Green  Mountains,  and  the  phenomenal  develop- 
ment of  the  same,  as  illustrated  by  their  prolonged 
stay  at  table  afterwards.  Cleanliness  in  household 
matters  is  a  sort  of  religion  with  the  people,  and  if  a 
man  should  confine  himself  strictly  to  the  food  served 
at  his  o^vn  home,  he  would  have  to  live  a  verv  lon^' 
time  before  he  could  eat  the  traditional  peck  of  dirt. 
ISTothing  so  quickly  touches  one  coming  from  the 
region  of  perpetual  flowers  and  evergreens  as  the 
painstaking  care  with  which  he  sees  ladies  nursing 
their  pet  plants  and  flowers  in  that  far  northern 
region  on  a  summer  day.  The  flora  that  he  sees  in 
the  country  makes  him  melancholy,  and  by  contrast 
exaggerates  the  wealth  of  that  w^hich  he  left  at  home, 
and  he  finds  himself  frequently  wishing  for  some 
of  the  exquisite  roses  and  other  fragrant  blossoms 
of  the  land  where  his  heart  is — "just  to  let  these 
people  see  what  flowers  are.'' 

The  hotels  are  among  the  best  "country"  hotels  in 
the  United  States.  Go  to  the  smallest  village,  and, 
although  the  exterior  of  the  hotel  may  not  be  very 
attractive,  you  are  sure  to  get  good,  clean,  well- 
cooked  food,  a  plenty  of  rich  milk,  the  best  butter  in 
the  world,  and,  finally,  a  bed  which  it  is  a  luxury 
to  sleep  on.  There  is  a  very  stringent  prohibitory 
liquor  law  on  the  statute  book  of  the  State,  but,  alas  \ 
for  the  infirmity  of  human  nature,  it  is,  to  a  large 
extent,  a  dead  letter,  and  nearly  every  hotel  has  its 
"dead-fall,"  more  or  less  carefully  concealed,  but 
general^  ready  to  open  to  the  magic  sound  of  money. 
The  rebel  brigadier  found  the  same  state  of  things 
in  Maine  afterwards,  and  carefully  inquired  into  the 
history  and  results  of  prohibitory  legislation  there, 
wdiich  satisfied  him  that,    although  absolute  prohi- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  169 

bition  is  practically  impossible,  and  altbougb  the  en- 
forcement of  the  law  gives  rise  to  much  perjury  and 
deprives  the  State  of  considerable  revenue,  it  pre- 
vents a  great  deal  of  crime  and  misery,  to  which 
other  communities  are  subject,  by  limiting  the  facil- 
ities for  obtaining  liquor,  and  keeping  thereby  in 
the  pockets  of  the  people,  for  expenditure  in  legiti- 
mate methods,  thousands  of  dollars  which  would 
otherwise  go  to  the  vendors  of  the  ^^pizen."  Still 
there  does  not  seem  to  be  any  serious  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  a  man's  getting  a  drink,  if  he  puts  his 
whole  mind  on  it  (like  the  fellow  who  dug  for  the 
gopher  during  the  war),  and  goes  armed  with  that 
most  formidable  of  all  human  weapons — money. 
There  are  a  ]ilenty  of  people  there  who  get  '^fatigued 
with  sperrets,"  but  they  have  to  do  it  in  a  sneaking 
way,  which  only  adds  to  the  degradation,  and  they 
are  obliged  to  do  it  on  very  mean  liquor,  for  it 
doesn't  pay  to  keep  a  good  and  costly  article  when 
it  is  liable  to  be  seized  at  any  time.  It  may  be  that 
every  man  is  gifted  with  a  certain  amount  of  ''pure 
cussedness"  distributed  through  different  channels  of 
his  natural  system,  and  that  damming  up  any  one  of 
these  will  only  cause  an  overflow  in  some  other,  so 
that  the  average  will  be  maintained;  but  every  good 
citizen  and  every  pious  woman  will  say,  in  regard 
to  that  channel  through  Avhich  the  propensity  to 
drink  flows,  ''dam  it." 

A  very  pleasing  feature  of  all  Vermont  villages 
is  the  public  park,  with  its  flne  shade  trees,  and  band- 
stand, from  which  the  good  band,  with  which  nearly 
every  village  is  supplied,  discourses  music  on  public 
occasions,  and  summer  evenings.  That  sure  evidence 
of  a  well  ordered  society — good  roads  and  excellent 
bridges — are  to  be  seen  everywhere  throughout  the 


170  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

State,  and  when  it  is  remembered  that  there  is  hardly 
any  level  land  in  it,  the  impression  upon  one  coming 
from  a  region  which,  even  with  a  flat  surface,  has 
not  these  advantages,  is  much  stronger  at  first  than 
it  would  otherwise  be.  To  speak  of  a  crop  in  the 
State,  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  term,  would  be  ridic- 
ulous. 

The  people  get  their  breadstuffs  from  the  West, 
but  their  cattle,  especially  the  milch  cows,  which 
feed  in  summer  on  the  short,  sweet  grass  of  the  hill- 
sides, are  very  fine.  The  once  celebrated  breed  of 
Morgan  horses,  for  which  the  State  was  famous,  is 
well-nigh  extinct,  and  a  genuine,  pure-blooded  stock 
horse  of  that  breed  would,  perhaps,  bring  a  higher 
price  there  than  anywhere  else  in  the  country.  Still, 
a  great  many  fine  roadsters  are  raised  there,  and  if 
they  all  had  the  same  careful  grooming  which  was 
bestowed  uj)on  one  that  came  to  the  notice  of  the 
rebel  brigadier  they  might  also  be  envied  by  the 
young  men  of  the  country.  He  belonged  to  a  very 
pretty  young  lady,  who  had  just  gTaduated  with  the 
first  honors,  and  whose  special  delight  it  was  to  rise 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  go  to  the  stable,  and, 
leading  him  thence  to  the  back  piazza,  to  spread  a 
carpet  on  the  ground  and  rub  down  his  legs.  She 
was  independent  as  to  fortune,  but  could  not  be  said 
to  literally  illustrate  the  spirit  of  self-dependence  to 
which  allusion  has  been  made  as  characterizing  the 
women  of  Vermont,  because  when  she  took  a  drive 
of  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  to  visit  a  friend,  as 
she  sometimes  did  alone,  she  carried  a  fierce  dog 
and  a  double-barrel  shot  gun  in  her  phaeton,  a  pro- 
ceeding which,  as  there  are  no  Ku  Klux  in  that  re- 
gion, plainly  reflected  upon  the  gallantry  of  her 
countr^Tnen. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  171 

Stephen  A.  Douglas  used  to  say  that  Vermont  was 
a  good  country  to  be  born  in,  and  there  he  stopped. 
It  has  some  advantages  as  a  country  to  die  in  also, 
because  it  not  only  contains  some  beautifully  located 
cemeteries,  but  marble  and  granite  are  very  abun- 
dant, cheap,  and  of  the  finest  quality.  Digging  one's 
grave,  however,  would  be  the  most  serious  item  of 
expense,  as  the  soil  is  so  thin  that  blasting  has  to 
be  resorted  to — at  least,  that  is  the  impression  made 
upon  a  stranger.  But  Vermont  is  also  a  glorious 
region  to  live  in — in  summer.  It  would  strain  even 
a  tough  conscience  to  recommend  it  as  a  desirable 
place  for  a  winter  residence,  but  from  June  until 
October  it  is  a  luxury  to  breathe  the  pure  atmosphere 
that  bathes  its  beautiful  green  hills  and  vales.  The 
local  attachment  which  sentimental  writers  have  al- 
ways attributed  to  the  resident  of  a  mountainous 
country,  however,  does  not  appear  to  be  so  intense 
among  the  inhabitants  as  to  amount  to  a  passion, 
although  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  individual 
Vermonter  clings  as  tenaciously  to  a  mountain — if 
it  belongs  to  him  and  contains  any  valuable  timber 
or  other  marketable  product — as  any  other  man. 
There  have  been  periods  in  the  history  of  the  country, 
it  is  true,  when  this  love  of  home  has  been  power- 
fully developed,  such  periods  generally  coinciding 
with  the  occurrence  of  wars,  foreign  and  domestic, 
and  passing  away  with  them,  but  ordinarily  it  is 
not  especially  observable.  It  is  not  a  country  in 
which  an  outsider  would  make  an  immediate  for- 
tune by  an  exchange  of  commodities,  as  was  illus- 
trated in  the  horse-swapping  transaction  between  a 
]^ew  Yorker  and  a  resident  of  this  State,  which 
ended  by  the  latter's  fj-ettino-  both  horses  and  fifty 
dollars.     But  for  ener^^'    ru^prr>inse  and  thrift,  and 


172  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

for  depositing  ballots  on  what  the  rebel  brigadier 
thought  was  the  wrong  side  of  politics,  they  cer- 
tainly have  '^few  equals  and  no  superiors." 

The  scenery  in  some  parts  of  the  State,  and  nota- 
bly along  the  borders  of  Lake  Champlain  and  around 
Lake  Memphremagog,  can  scarcely  be  surpassed. 
The  many  smaller  lakes,  or  ponds,  as  they  are  called, 
which  in  various  places  greet  the  gaze  of  the  traveler 
as  he  winds  his  way  among  the  mountains,  give  a 
charm  to  the  landscape  which  is  lacking  in  the 
grander  mountain  scenery  of  the  West  and   South. 

In  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  there  are  similar 
landscapes,  but  the  coloring  is  not  so  rich. 

Sunsets  are  beautiful  everywhere — in  the  pine 
levels  of  the  South  Atlantic  coast,  on  the  prairies  and 
the  sea,  as  well  as  amid  the  everlasting  hills,  in  every 
latitude  of  every  land.  Those  on  Lake  Champlain 
are  sometimes  most  magnificent.  In  summer  when 
the  god  of  day,  before  sinking  to  his  rest,  pauses 
above  the  high-rolling  wilderness  of  the  Adirondacks 
to  take  his  last  lingering  look  across  the  lake  upon 
Mount  Mansfield,  towering  behind  the  hills  of  Wi- 
nooski,  the  whole  heavens  and  the  earth  are  radiant 
with  his  glory.  A  rosy  mist,  uprising  from  the  por- 
tals of  the  glowing  west,  mantles  all  the  Adirondack 
range,  and  spreads  far  purpling  up  the  azure  steep ; 
light,  fleecy  clouds  float  slowly  across  the  surface ; 
great  golden  bars  of  light,  like  solid  beams,  radiating 
from  the  fiery  orb,  strike  through  the  misty  veil, 
and,  reaching  upward,  pale  gradually  toward  the 
zenith ;  the  slanting  rays  glance  tenderly  along  the 
mellow  waters,  and  melt  into  their  silent  depths ;  the 
woods  are  kindled  with  a  strange,  unearthly  light; 
the  south  wind  softly  sings  its  vesper  hymn;  moun- 
tain, lake  and  woods  as  softly  catch  the  strain,  and 


Alfred  Mooee  Waddell.  173 

amid  the  changing  splendors  of  the  summer  eve  the 
gates  of  day  are  shut,  and  the  stars  begin  their  watch. 

It  was  the  good  fortune  of  the  rebel  brigadier  to 
enjoy  many  such  sunsets  while  camping  with  hos- 
pitable friends  on  the  shores  of  that  beautiful  lake, 
and  on  one  such  afternoon  he  had  the  honor  to  ad- 
dress an  audience  of  some  hundreds  who  had  gath- 
ered there  to  hear  him  speak,  or  ^'lecture,"  as  they 
say  up  there. 

Opposite  the  camp  on  the  western  side  of  the  lake 
was  Plattsburg,  near  which  was  the  scene  of  Mc- 
D enough's  naval  victory.  At  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  lake  was  Ticonderoga,  and  still  further  soutii 
was  Bennington. 

The  hour,  the  scene  and  the  historic  associations 
which  clustered  around  those  names  must  have  ex- 
cited patriotic  sentiments  in  any  descendant  of  the 
men  of  the  revolution,  even  though  he  bore  the  title 
which  England  honored  them  with.  The  rebel  brig- 
adier, therefore,  felt  and  gave  utterance  to  them, 
appealing  most  earnestly  to  those  who  surrounded 
him  for  a  restoration  of  the  mutual  confidence  and 
friendship  which  formerly  existed  between  the  peo- 
ple of  the  two  sections  of  the  country,  protesting, 
meanwhile,  the  good  faith  of  the  Southern  people, 
in  whose  behalf  he  spoke,  and  depicting,  as  best  he 
could,  the  calamities  which  had  befallen  them  in 
addition  to  those  which  had  accompanied  their  over- 
whelming defeat  in  that  war. 

Some  of  his  auditors  seemed  touched  by  the  reci- 
tal, but  the  majority,  like  the  stalwart  mentioned 
in  the  first  paragraph,  ^^didn't  take  any  stock  in  him 
and  didn't  believe  a  word  of  what  he  was  talking 
about,"  and  they  would  not  believe  though  one  should 
rise  from  the  dead. 

What  will  their  children  believe  ? 


174  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

No.  2. 

It  is  observable  tbat  the  solemn  mysterious  animal 
in  whose  hind  legs  such  rare  possibilities  slumber, 
and  Avhose  dignified  gait  and  nodding  ears  when  mov- 
ing along  a  dusty  lane  in  August  are  so  suggestive  of 
sw^eet  contentment,  is  unknown  in  Xew  England. 
There  is  not  a  mule  in  the  land !  Of  course,  there- 
fore, notwithstanding  their  superior  educational  fa- 
cilities, the  people  have  a  great  deal  yet  to  learn. 

The  absence  of  this  interesting  animal  did  not 
strike  the  rebel  brigadier  at  first,  although  he  was 
conscious  when  riding  through  the  country  that 
something  familiar  was  lacking,  but  he  was  suddenly 
reminded  of  it  one  day  by  seeing  the  awkward  and 
hesitating  effort  of  an  old  brown  horse  to  balk,  and 
finally  to  kick,  and  then  the  vision  of  the  missing 
mule,  that  living  embodiment  of  universal  dislocation, 
flashed  upon  him,  and  he  strove  to  portray  to  his 
uninformed  companion  the  matchless  gifts  of  that 
uncertain  quadruped. 

When  the  old  brown  horse,  which  thus  served,  by 
contrast,  as  a  reminder  of  the  absent  mule,  had 
ceased  his  feeble  resistance  and  resumed  his  slow 
gait,  the  conversation  between  the  rebel  brigadier 
and  his  companion,  whom  he  had  hired  to  drive  him 
a  few  miles  to  a  political  meeting,  was  also  resumed. 
The  latter,  however,  had  very  little  to  resume,  as 
up  to  the  time  of  this  incident  he  had  confined  his 
part  of  the  conversation  principally  to  four  words, 
and  those  four  words  served  a  purpose  entirely  new 
to  the  rebel  brigadier.  He  had  been  familiarized 
with  the  traditional  '"du  tell,"  and  "I  want  to  know," 
as  exclamations  of  surprise,  but  had  never  heard 
"Oh !  you  talk  so"  used,  except  to  rebuke  volubility 
or  exaggeration.    He  was  amused,   therefore,  when,. 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddell.  175 

in  answer  to  some  ordinary  remark  of  his  about  the 
changed  condition  of  the  South,  his  companion 
turned  his  dull  eyes  upon  him,  and  with  the  faintest 
ray  of  animation  lighting  his  face,  and  with  scarcely 
an  inflection  in  his  voice,  mechanically  said,  ''Oh  I 
you  talk  so."  And  so,  as  the  journey  and  the  conver- 
sation continued,  this  ejaculatory  utterance  was  re- 
peated in  the  same  tone,  sometimes  half  suppressed, 
and  occasionally  with  a  slight  emphasis  on  the  ''you." 

It  is  impossible  for  a  stranger  to  pass  through  the 
region  which  these  two  were  traversing  without  being 
struck  with  its  beautiful  landscapes,  and,  therefore, 
the  stranger,  whose  experiences  are  herein  given,  was 
constantly  commenting  upon  them. 

''This  country  is  certainly  very  beautiful  in  sum- 
mer," said  he,  "  and  there  is  an  elasticity  in  the 
atmosphere,  a  freshness  and  purity  which  stimulate 
mind  and  body.  Exercise,  even  in  the  middle  of  the 
hottest  day,  does  not  fatigue  one,  and  the  nights  are 
so  pleasant  that  morning  always  finds  one  refreshed, 
but  it  must  be  awfully  cold  here  in  winter." 

"Well,  yes ;  I  cal'clate  it's  a  leetle  mite  colder'n 
w^here  you  came  from,"  replied  the  native ;  "but  Liz- 
zie Fitch,  that's  been  teachin'  school  down  South, 
says  it  'peared  like  she  couldn't  keep  warm  there  last 
w^inter,  and  then,  when  the  cold  spell  got  by,  it  come 
so  hot  'fore  school  closed  for  summer  vacation  she 
thought  she'd  melt." 

"Has  the  lady  quit  teaching  down  there  on  account 
of  the  climate  ?"  inquired  the  rebel  brigadier. 

"Oh,  no ;  she's  going  back  this  fall  and  take  her 
sister  to  teach  too — she  gits  good  wages  I  guess,  and 
she's  doing  a  good  work." 

"I  hope  she  will  return,  and  take  not  only  her  sis- 
ter, but  as  many  more  friends  as  she  can  with  her," 


176  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

said  the  Southerner.     ''It  will  be  good  not  only  for 
the  children,  but  for  herself  and  her  companions." 

An  incredulous  look  was  the  only  response  to  this 
remark,  and  then  there  was  a  jerk  at  the  lines  and  a 
gentle  application  of  the  whip  to  the  venerable  loco- 
motive power  in  front  of  them.  After  a  moment  or 
two  of  silence  the  driver  tentatively  observed  that  he 
was  surprised  to  hear  that  the  ''school  marm's"  resi- 
dence in  the  South  could  be  good  for  her. 

"I  thought/'  said  he,  "that  the  rebels  took  mighty 
little  stock  in  our  women  that  go  down  there  to  teach, 
and  that  they  made  it  pretty  hot  for  'em,  'specially 
them  that  teach  the  black  ones." 

"Does  the  lady  of  whom  you  spoke  just  now  say 
she  was  ill-treated  at  the  South — that  thev  made  it 
'hot  for  her'  r 

"JSTo,  I  guess  not ;  but  they  say  some  of  'em  have  a 
rough  time." 


"How  ?" 


"Well,  I  can't  say  exactly  how,  except  that  the 
people  don't  seem  to  care  much  for  'em,  or  notice  'em 
much." 

"Why  should  they?  If  one  of  them  should  stop 
on  the  way  South  in  New  York,  or  Pennsylvania, 
would  she  receive  any  particular  attention  from 
strangers  unless  she  had  letters  of  introduction  ?  Or, 
would  a  Southern  woman  coming  up  here,  under  the 
same  circumstances,  find  it  different  V 

"I  don't  know  as  she  would." 

"Come,  now;  do  you  think  if  one  of  those  rebel 
women  should  stop  over  awhile  in  your  village  that 
the  ladies  would  call  on  her,  and  invite  her  to  their 
houses,  without  knowing  anything  about  her  ?" 

"I  know  one  that  wouldn't." 

"Do  vou  know  one  that  would  ?" 


Alfred  Mooee  Waddell.  177 

The  Yankee  laughed  a  very  unsatisfactory  sort  of 
a  laugh,  pulled  his  reins,  and  said : 

"Oh,  you  talk  so.'' 

They  were  just  turning  a  bend  in  the  road,  which, 
for  some  distance  behind  them  and  up  to  this  point, 
was  flanked  by  a  forest  of  hemlock,  pine,  maple,  and 
beech,  when  the  rebel  brigadier  pointing  to  the  left, 
exclaimed : 

"Look !  look !  did  you  ever  see  anything  more  beau- 
tiful than  that  ?     Isn't  that  magnificent  ?" 

The  country  through  which  they  were  passing  was 
mountainous  and  the  road  followed  the  notch  through 
which  flowed  one  of  those  tumbling  brooks  of  clear, 
cold  water  in  which  the  speckled  trout  loves  to  hide 
himself.  Their  course  was  up  the  stream,  and  they 
had  reached  nearly  to  the  summit  level,  when  the 
landscape  which  so  excited  the  Southerner's  admira- 
tion burst  suddenly  upon  their  sight. 

At  the  base  of  an  almost  perpendicular  peak,  on 
whose  rocky  crest  the  sunlight  was  sleeping,  and 
whose  green  sides  were  seamed  by  landslides  and 
riven  by  the  rush  of  waters  which  the  voice  of  spring 
had  yearly  railed  from  their  frozen  tomb,  and,  reflect- 
ing from  its  glassy  surface  every  outline  of  the  moun- 
tain, lay  a  lake  as  blue  as  sapphire,  and  as  motionless 
as  the  surrounding  hills.  The  breeze,  like  the  sun- 
light on  the  mountain-top,  was  sleeping,  and  all-per- 
vading stillness  held  the  air  and  rested  upon  the 
water.  A  lone  eagle  sat  upon  a  projecting  cliff  as  if 
carved  from  the  solid  rock,  and  looked  downward 
upon  the  travelers  like  the  g:enius  of  time  watching 
the  march  of  humanity.  The  scene  was  perfect  in 
its  sublimely  beautiful  repose. 

^  "Stop,"  said  the  Southerner,  "I  must  enjoy  this 
view  a  little  while." 
12 


178  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

He  sprang  out,  and,  walking  a  few  paces  from  the 
road,  took  olf  his  hat  and  stood  gazing  with  delight 
upon  the  scene,  every  feature  of  which  he  seemed  to 
be  absorbing — the  smooth  breadth  of  clear,  blue 
water,  whose  colors  deepened  next  the  rocky  heights 
— the  uprising  mountain  with  its  cliffs  and  crags  jut- 
ting through  its  green  mantle  of  pines  and  shrub- 
bery, and  far  down  the  winding  vales  the  gradually 
softening  outlines  of  the  receding  range  rolling  away 
in  huge  masses  until  lost  in  hazy  billows  along  the 
horizon. 

After  a  few  moments  passed  thus,  he  slowly  and 
reluctantly  returned  towards  the  vehicle,  and  wa? 
about  to  resume  his  seat,  Avhen  the  driver,  who  had 
been  silently  watching,  said : 

^'Ain't  there  no  mountains  and  lakes  dovni  South  V 

^^Oh !  yes,  plenty  of  them.  In  my  State,  North 
Carolina,  there  are  twenty-six  mountain  peaks  higher 
than  Mt.  Washington,  which  you  all  think  is  the  tall- 
est mountain  almost  in  the  world ;  but  we  don't  have 
our  mountains  and  lakes  together,  as  you  have.  Our 
mountain  scenery  is  grander,  but  not  so  beautiful  as 
yours,  because  the  water  views  are  lacking.  Our 
lakes  are  all  in  the  low  country,  near  the  sea,  where 
there  are  no  hills.  If  some  Yankees  would  only  go 
down  there  now,  and  get  the  lakes  to  the  mountains, 
they  could  make  a  fortune," — and  the  rebel  brigadier 
smiled  encouragingly  on  his  companion — but  after  a 
moment  added  in  a  soliloquy,  "but,  if  they  made  as 
bad  a  mess  of  it  as  they  did  in  trying  to  reconstruct 
society,  our  physical  geography  would  be  very  badly 
deranofed." 

At  length  their  point  of  destination  was  reached, 
the  usual  crowd  was  assembled,  and  there  was  a  flag 
raising,  music  and  stump  speaking.     It  was  a  very 


Alfked  Mooee  Waddell.  179 

out-of-the-way  place,  and  there  was  a  flavor  of  rank 
radicalism  in  everything  about  it,  but  there  were 
present  some  of  the  truest  and  best  Democrats  in 
America — as  there  were  at  all  the  meetings  during 
the  campaigns  in  that  region — who  heartily  enjoyed 
the  proceedings,  and  applauded  the  sentiments  of  the 
speakers  with  a  vim,  especially  when  the  rebel  briga- 
dier commented  on  the  ignorance  prevailing  among 
them  in  regard  to  the  South,  and  denounced  the  mean 
lies  which  were  persistently  kept  in  circulation  about 
the  Southern  people.  After  the  meeting  was  over  a 
much  pleased  citizen  came  to  him,  and  said ; 

'^I  lived  in  the  South  several  years  and  know  the 
truth  of  what  you  said,  but  you've  struck  a  hard 
crowd  today.  I  once  heard  a  preacher  right  here  tell 
a  crowd  that  during  slavery  times  the  negroes  on  the 
plantations  in  the  South  were  driven  out  of  the  fields 
when  it  was  too  dark  to  work,  and  were  penned  up 
at  night  with  the  other  cattle!  I  denied  the  state- 
ment, and  upon  his  repeating  it  I  denounced  him  as 
a  liar,  and  came  very  near  getting  mobbed  for  it." 

^^You  say  the  man  who  told  that  was  a  preacher  f 

"Yes,  sir,  and  he  said  he  knew  it  to  be  true,  and 
most  of  the  crowd  believed  him." 

It  then  occurred  forcibly  to  the  "orator  of  the  day" 
that  he  had  been  persuading  and  perspiring  in  vain, 
and  that,  so  far  as  that  audience  was  concerned,  his 
object  would  be  realized  "when  Gabr'l  blow  his  trum- 
pet in  de  mornin,'  "  and  not  before. 

To  add  to  his  exhilaration  a  former  carpet-bag 
sheriff  of  an  adjoining  county  to  that  in  which  he 
lives,  and  whose  sudden  disappearance  from  the 
scene  of  his  missionary  labors  had  cast  a  gloom  over 
the  county  treasury,  came  up  smilingly  to  greet  him, 
and  to  make   affectionate   inquiries  concerning   the 


180  Some  Memoeies  of  My  Life. 

dear  friends  he  had  ^'left"  behind  him.  The  meeting 
was  quite  touching,  as  might  have  been  expected,  and 
the  ex-carpet-bagger's  eye — he  had  but  one — was 
moistened  at  the  recollections  of  the  past,  those 
halcyon  days  now  gone  never  more  to  return.  He  de- 
plored the  unhappy  condition  of  affairs  at  the  South, 
and  wringing  the  hand  of  the  rebel  brigadier  at  part- 
ing, expressed  in  mournful  accents  the  earnest  hope 
that  the  spirit  of  persecution  for  opinion's  sake 
would  soon  cease  in  that  God-forsaken  country ! 

Fortunately  the  depression  of  spirits  which  such 
an  interview  naturally  produced  was  dissipated  soon 
afterwards  by  a  very  pleasant  incident,  which,  like 
many  similar  ones,  is  most  agreeably  remembered  by 
the  rebel  brigadier.  Keturning  from  the  meetiog 
above  described,  and  passing  through  one  of  those 
pretty  little  hamlets  which  nestle  in  the  valleys  of 
that  region,  he  was  saluted  by  fifes  and  drums  played 
by  Union  soldiers  who  had  assemblpd  on  the  road- 
side, and  who  gave  him  '^three  cheers  and  a  tiger"  as 
he  approached,  and  the  same  as  he  departed.  There 
was  the  sound  of  real  reconciliation  in  the  rattle  of 
those  drums  and  the  ring  of  those  cheers  which  it  was 
pleasant  to  hear,  and  to  fitly  acknowledge. 

At  another  meeting,  in  a  different  place,  a  most 
unexpected  and  rather  embarrassing,  but  laughable, 
incident  occurred,  which  created  a  little  sensation  in 
the  crowd,  but  fortunately  no  serious  disturbance. 
The  rebel  brigadier  was  speaking  to  a  silent  and  at- 
tentive audience,  and  was  vindicating  the  Southern 
people  against  the  slanders  w^hich  had  been  heaped 
upon  them,  and  justifying  their  course  in  being 
"solid,"  when  a  very  respectable  looking  and  well 
dressed  gentleman  interrupted  him  by  saying  that  the 
South  was  not  only  right  now,  but  was  right  during 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  181 

the  war;  that  secession  was  right  and  the  North 
wrong!  It  was  rather  demoralizing  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, to  the  speaker,  but  he  rallied,  delivered  a 
funeral  oration  over  the  dead  past,  and  immediately 
turned  loose  the  bird  of  freedom.  He  afterwards 
sought  out  the  gentleman  and  earnestly  requested 
him  not  to  speak. at  the  same  time  and  place  with  him 
again — at  least,  on  that  particular  theme.  The  gen- 
tleman acknowledged  the  force  of  the  suggestion,  but 
indulged  in  a  few  observations  touching  the  history 
and  conduct  of  the  Eepublican  party  which  were  cal- 
culated to  make  one's  hair  rise.  It  all  sounded  very 
much  like  something  which  the  rebel  brigadier  had 
heard  before  somewhere;  but,  coming  from  such  an 
unexpected  source  and  in  such  a  latitude,  it  had  al- 
most the  freshness  of  a  new  story.  The  gentleman, 
like  many  others  up  there,  may  have  had  a  grievance 
of  his  own  to  complain  of,  but  he  appeared  to  be 
speaking  from  higher  ground.  There  is  much  bitter- 
ness, however,  towards  the  Republicans  there  by  men 
who  were  socially  tabooed  and  hounded  down  in  their 
business,  and  even  in  their  churches,  because  they 
voted  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  the  fact  that  they 
are  in  such  an  almost  hopeless  minority  only  adds 
intensity  to  their  feeling  of  antagonism  towards  that 
party.  The  tenacity  with  which  they  hold  to  their 
political  faith  is  certainly  worthy  of  respect,  and 
their  desire  to  have  justice  done  to  the  South  entitles 
them  to  our  sympathy  and  friendship.  They  are 
beaten  at  every  election  with  undeviating  regularity, 
but  maintain  their  organization,  and  keep  pegging 
away  with  untiring  devotion ;  and,  although  the  pros- 
pect for  their  success  is  not  very  encouraging,  they 
may  yet — and  sooner  than  their  opponents  imagine — 
realize  the  reward  of  perseverance  in  a  good  cause. 


182  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

An  illustration  of  their  spirit  was  furnished  by  an- 
other incident  which  happened  at  the  same  meeting. 
An  old  fashioned  Democrat,  some  years  previously, 
had  been  disgusted  at  seeing  an  old  cannon,  which  he 
had  long  been  accustomed  to  use  in  celebrating  Demo- 
cratic victories,  prostituted  (as  he  considered  it)  to 
similar  uses  by  the  Radicals,  and,  in  his  wrath,  had 
'^captured"  the  piece  at  night  and  buried  it  in  the 
ground  near  his  residence.  No  one  knew  what  had 
become  of  the  gun  until  the  last  campaign,  when  the 
old  man  resurrected  it,  cleaned  it  nicely,  mounted  it, 
prepared  the  cartridges,  and  drove  down  to  our  meet- 
ing, a  distance  of  twelve  miles  with  his  pet  hitched  to 
a  fine  pair  of  horses,  where  he  waked  the  echoes  for 
an  hour  or  two,  to  the  danger  of  the  bystanders  and 
his  own  great  satisfaction.  Hearing  the  rebel  briga- 
dier regret  that  he  did  not  have  any  Confederate 
money  with  which  to  illustrate  his  argument  in  re- 
gard to  the  payment  of  the  rebel  debt,  the  old  gentle- 
man hauled  out  a  dollar  bill  of  that  unmatured  cur- 
rency and  presented  it  to  him.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
he  has  not  died  of  a  broken  heart  since  the  election, 
but  that  he  may  live  to  fire  a  salute  over  a  Demo- 
cratic victory  again. 

At  this  same  meeting,  too,  the  effect  of  the  misrep- 
resentation of  the  South  by  newspapers  was  made 
manifest  in  a  way  that  was  really  distressing  to  the 
rebel  brigadier. 

A  middle-aged  man,  who  was  evidently  not  in  good 
health,  came  to  him  and  said  he  desired  a  little  con- 
versation with  him.  He  said  he  was  a  Democrat ; 
that  his  health  was  rather  delicate,  and  that  the  cli- 
mate was  too  severe  for  him ;  that  he  had  a  little 
money  and  would  like  to  take  it  and  move  to  a  mild- 
er climate  to  farm,  as  that  was  his  occupation ;  that 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  183 

he  really  wanted  to  go  to  the  South  to  live,  and,  if 
he  did,  would  be  ,a  ^ood  citizen  there  as  he  tried  to  be 
at  home;  but  so  much  had  been  said  about  the  ill- 
treatment  of  Northern  men  down  there  that  he  was 
almost  afraid  to  risk  it,  and  he  anxiously  inquired 
if  a  man  of  his  politics,  who  attended  to  his  business 
and  didn't  interfere  with  others,  should  move  there, 
he  would  go  unmolested  and  have  a  fair  chance  with 
his  family  to  get  along.  Was  it  wrong  for  the  rebel 
brigadier  to  feel  a  little  wicked  for  a  few  moments  ? 

No.  3. 

Several  occurrences  which  happened  in  Vermont 
during  the  canvass  afforded  such  good  opportunities 
for  reply  to  the  charge  of  lawlessness  and  barbarism 
which  Kepublican  orators  and  newspapers  so  delight- 
ed to  bring  against  the  Southern  people,  that  it 
would  have  been  almost  impossible  not  to  take  advan- 
tage of  them. 

One  was  the  stripping  naked  and  tarring  and 
feathering  of  a  frail  woman,  whose  mode  of  life  did 
not  suit  the  ideas  of  the  brave  and  chivalrous  men 
who  lived  in  her  neighborhood,  and  who  took  that 
method  of  manifesting  their  virtuous  wrath  and  in- 
dignation against  her.  Another  was  the  murder  of  a 
little  orphan  girl,  who  was  taken  out  at  night  by  the 
woman  with  whom  she  lived  and  her  son,  and  was 
compelled  by  them  to  take  a  large  quantity  of  strych- 
nine against  her  piteous  protest.  She  died  in  horri- 
ble convulsions,  and  was  left  like  a  dead  dog  near  the 
highway.  Of  course  such  crimes  would  nol:  furnish 
any  argument  to  convict  a  whole  community  of  di- 
abolism, and  for  that  very  reason  they  served  very 
well  to  illustrate  the  unfairness  of  the  charges  against 
the  South  for  similar  acts  done  by  individuals  there. 


\ 

184  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

As  to  political  outrages  committed  by  the  sole  pro- 
prietors of  all  the  loyalty  and  law-abiding  spirit  in 
the  land,  an  amusing  instance  illustrative  of  them 
happened  almost  under  the  shadow  of  the  State  Cap- 
itol, when  a  zealous  patriot  tore  down  and  trampled 
upon  the  star  spangled  banner  because  that  ensign  of 
the  free  bore  upon  its  folds  the  name  of  a  vile  traitor 
and  rebel,  Winfield  S.  Hancock !  and  when  the  meek 
owner  of  the  flag  hoisted  it  again  the  same  advocate 
of  free  speech  and  fair  elections  repeated  the  opera- 
tion with  additional  aggressive  accompaniments.  Of 
course  the  rebel  brigadier  attributed  these  little  ec- 
centricities to  the  playful  disposition  of  the  pure  and 
enlightened  people  who  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  of 
a  high  civilization,  and  not  to  the  base  and  cruel 
spirit  wdiich  prompted  similar  deeds  in  the  benighted 
South.  It  may  be  true  that  the  flag-trampler  above 
mentioned  really  thought  Hancock  was  a  rebel,  for  a 
gentleman  said  during  the  canvass  that  he  had  just 
been  tackled  in  debate  by  a  local  statesman  who  was 
under  that  impression ;  but,  if  he  did  think  so,  it  was 
clearly  the  result  of  that  excessive  information  which, 
by  overcrowding  the  mind,  sometimes  produces  re- 
sults which  are  mistaken  for  downright  ignorance; 
for  it  is  not  to  be  believed  for  a  moment  that  such  ig- 
norance really  existed  in  a  State  so  highly  favored 
in  respect  to  "educational'^  advantages.  But,  how- 
ever this  may  be,  the  rebel  brigadier  took  great  pleas- 
ure in  the  labor  of  removins:  the  beams  which  ob- 
structed the  vision  of  the  radical  Vermonter  when 
looking  for  motes  in  his  Southern  brother's  eye,  at 
the  same  time  explaining  that  they  were  not  beams  at 
all,  but  only  peculiarities  of  vision,  superindur-ed  by 
mental  strain  in  the  study  of  great  moral  ideas.  His 
labors  in  this  direction,  it  is  true,  were  not  crowned 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  185 

by  any  phenomenal  success,  but  they  afforded  him 
much  entertainment  and  great  satisfaction. 

Allusion  has  several  times  been  made  in  these  arti- 
cles to  questions  asked  the  rebel  brigadier  in  regard  to 
the  political  status  of  the  negroes  in  the  South,  and 
his  answers  thereto.  These  were  expected,  of  course, 
but  he  was  not  prepared  to  believe  that  any  intelligent 
person  would  inquire  of  him,  as  one  prominent  gen- 
tleman did,  "if  it  was  possible  for  a  negro  to  make 
a  living  down  there.''  Such  an  inquiry  afforded  a 
good  opportunity  to  impart  information,  as  well  as  to 
marvel  at  the  profoundly  self-sufficient  spirit  with 
which  a  Yankee  will  undertake  to  manage  affairs  of 
which  he  has  absolutely  no  knowledge  whatever, 
especially  if  they  are  other  people's  affairs. 

Every  one  of  those  who  asked  these  ridiculous 
questions  thinks  he  knows  the  needs  of  the  South  bet- 
ter than  any  "rebel"  possibly  can,  and  that  if  those 
disloyal  and  ignorant  wretches  did  not  so  persistently 
impede  all  progress  by  adhering  to  the  Democratic 
party,  the  loyal  Republican  North  would  proceed,  as 
Boutwell  put  it,  to  "renovate  the  waste  places  of  the 
South,"  and  enlighten  her  people  with  true  knowl- 
edge and  understanding  of  their  duties  and  interests. 
Alas !  the  "renovating"  process  does  not  seem  to  have 
any  fascinations  for  those  who,  but  for  this  rerver- 
sity,  would  be  its  beneficiaries.  On  the  contrary, 
they  prefer  almost  any  calamity  to  it,  inasmuch  as 
one  brief  experience  of  it  cost  them  infinite  degrada- 
tion and  vast  treasure. 

There  are  very  few  negroes  in  Vermont,  and  it  is 
worthy  of  remark  that,  according  to  the  information 
of  the  rebel  brigadier,  a  fair  proportion  of  them  vote 
the  Democratic  ticket.  He  remembers  seeing  one, 
decorated  with  Hancock  badges  and  an  immense  red 


186  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

rosette,  present  at  a  Democratic  meeting,  but  his  hon- 
est belief  is  that  there  is  at  least  as  much  and  proba- 
bly more  aversion  to  personal  association  with  the 
race  in  that  part  of  the  country  than  anywhere  else. 
They  are  actually  disliked,  but  the  very  fellows  who 
feel  that  way  towards  them  at  home  will  howl  over 
the  imaginary  wrongs  to  which  they  are  subjected  in 
the  South.  There  is  no  sincerity  in  it,  of  course,  so 
far  as  the  negro's  welfare  is  concerned,  although 
there  are  persons  there  who  sincerely  sympathize 
with  the  supposed  sorrows  of  the  race  whose  ancestors 
their  forefathers  brought  from  Africa. 

To  the  rising  generation,  generally,  however,  the 
history  of  slavery  in  this  country,  as  a  social  and  po- 
litical fact,  is  very  imperfectly  known ;  and  so  it  is 
in  regard  to  most  of  the  constitutional  questions 
which  agitated  the  country  before  the  war.  The 
/general  idea  seems  to  be  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
iSouth  were  always  a  horrible  race  of  people,  who  en- 
slaved and  tortured  the  poor  negro,  and  finally,  with- 
out the  least  excuse  or  provocation,  engaged  in  a  trea- 
sonable conspiracy  to  destroy  the  government,  made 
war  on  it,  and  after  four  years  were  conquered  by  the 
superior  valor  of  the  Republican  party,  who  have 
been  the  principal  sufferers,  but  who  have,  with  un- 
speakable magnanimity,  forgiven  the  great  crime, 
and  are  struggling  to  do  the  criminals  good  continu- 
ally in  spite  of  their  shameless  ingratitude,  which  is 
quite  a  heavenly  frame  of  mind  to  be  in,  but  some- 
what delusive. 

There  are  some  very  large  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments in  the  State,  chief  among  which  are  the 
"Fairbanks  Scales  Works,"  at  St.  Johnsbury ;  the 
"Howe  Scales  Works,"  at  Rutland,  and  the  extensive 
marble  works  at  the  same  place.     The     residences 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  187 

and  grounds  of  the  Fairbanks  family,  of  whom  there 
are  several,  are  very  fine,  and  the  owners  of  them  are 
said  to  be  public-spirited  and  charitable.  The 
grounds,  with  their  fine  roadways  and  graveled  walks 
winding  amidst  fountains  and  flowers,  are  open  to  the 
public.  The  operatives  seem  to  be  comfortably  fixed, 
and  are  said  to  vote  with  remarkable  unanimity  for 
the  ticket  favored  by  the  proprietors.  It  was  recent- 
ly stated  in  a  Vermont  newspaper,  however,  that  at 
the  late  election  there  was  one  exception  to  the  rule, 
and  he,  a  workman  for  many  years  connected  with 
the  factory,  soon  found  himself  out  of  employment. 
He  soon  got  another  place,  though,  and  expressed 
gratitude  at  having  at  last  found  work  'Svhere  it  was 
no  disgrace  to  belong  to  the  Episcopal  Church  and  to 
vote  the  Democratic  ticket." 

What  little  hope  had  been  entertained  of  reducing 
the  majority  in  Vermont  was  well  nigh  abandoned 
after  the  furore  about  the  tariff  was  raised,  because 
that  settled  the  question  as  to  the  way  the  operatives 
in  all  the  factories  would  vote.  When  S.  L.  Wood- 
ford, of  E'ew  York,  who  was  the  "big  gun"  of  the  Re- 
publicans, arrived  at  Rutland,  he  was  invited  out  to 
the  marble  works,  and  work  was  suspended  in  order 
that  the  employees  might  assemble  and  hear  him  dis- 
cuss the  tariff.  The  result  was  that  they  went  away 
believing  that  if  Hancock  was  elected  the  works 
would  stop ;  that^  they  would  all  be  thrown  out  of  em- 
ployment and  their  families  reduced  to  beggary. 
These  things,  together  with  the  moral  suasion — called 
bulldozing  when  applied  to  the  South — which  was 
practiced  under  various  disaruises  by  employers,  de- 
stroyed all  hope  of  reducing  the  Republican  ma- 
jority. 

And  here  again  an  opportunity  was  afforded  to  re- 


188  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

ply  to  the  accusations  against  the  South.  A  hypo- 
critical rascal  will  bitterly  denounce  the  Southern 
people  for  what  he  assumes  to  be  their  crimes  against 
a  free  ballot  by  the  negroes,  and  immediately  turn 
around  and  give  hi-s  white  workmen  to  understand 
that  they  must  vote  as  he  does  or  be  discharged.  This 
is  notoriously  true — although  a  great  deal  of  inge- 
nuity is  practiced  to  escape  the  charge  of  direct  in- 
timidation— and  it  is  the  most  cowardly  and  con- 
temptible species  of  bulldozing  that  can  be  indulged 
in,  because  there  is  no  defense  against  it  to  which  the 
working  man  can  resort.  It  is  doubly  cowardly  and 
contemptible  when  the  perpetrator  of  it  pretends  to  be 
afflicted  by  an  alleged  similar  interference  with  suf- 
frage in  the  South,  and  it  gave  unmitigated  satisfac- 
tion to  the  rebel  brigadier  to  express  this  honest 
opinion  on  the  subject,  ineffectual  though  it  might 
be. 

The  fact  is  that  a  great  many  plain  truths  were 
told  in  a  polite  way  by  the  rebel  brigadier,  which  it 
was  good  for  the  brethren  to  hear,  simply  as  a  matter 
of  news,  and  which  it  was  his  plain  duty  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  bring  to  their  knowledge.  The  obliga- 
tion, too,  was  more  binding,  because  he  was  the  first 
of  his  kind  to  go  among  them  in  that  capacity,  but 
he  can  not  say  that  they  all  received  the  truth  wnth 
gladness,  for  their  political  ways  were  evil,  and  their 
hearts  were  hardened  against  ^the  reception  of  the 
good  tidings  which  were  borne  to  them.  It  will  hap- 
pen that  way  sometimes. 

Coming  from  a  country  in  which  deer  and  smaller 
game  are  abundant,  and  where  the  streams  and 
waters  teem  w^ith  all  kinds  of  fish,  it  was  calculated 
to  excite  the  risibles  of  the  rebel  brigadier  to  see  the 
lands  "posted"   against  sportsmen,  when  there  was 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddell.  189 

not  enougli  game  in  fifty  miles  square  of  it  to  furnish 
a  day's  sport.  In  traveling  over  the  entire  State  he 
saw  but  one  game  bird,  and  was  told  there  were 
scarcely  any  in  it,  and  yet  he  frequently  saw  stuck 
up  over  a  fence  (which  is  always  made  of  loose 
stones  or  cedar  stumps,  with  the  twisting  roots  at- 
tached), ''hunting  forbidden  on  this  land,''  and 
sometimes,  at  a  little  piece  of  meadow  with  a  three 
foot  ditch  in  it,  ''fishing  here  not  allowed."  The 
latter  notice  is  much  more  reasonable  than  the  form- 
er, however,  for  frequently  the  ditch  contains 
speckled  trout,  and  the  smaller  a  speckled  trout  is  the 
more  highly  he  is  prized,  three  to  four  inches  being 
the  desirable  length  of  one.  There  is  very  good  fish- 
ing in  the  lakes  and  ponds  for  pickerel,  pike  and  bass, 
the  latter  being  very  nearly  exactly  the  same  fish 
which  in  middle  North  Carolina  is  called  chub,  in 
the  Cape  Fear  region  fresh  water  trout,  and  in  On- 
slow and  other  eastern  counties  "Welshmen."  How 
the  latter  name  originated  it  is  impossible  to  tell, 
but  perhaps  the  fish  are  so-called  because  they  have 
so  much  mouth.  In  Lake  Champlain  very  fair  sport 
may  be  had  either  in  ordinary  pole  and  line  fishing, 
or  in  trolling,  or  fishing  in  very  deep  water  (up  to  15 
fathoms),  where  pike  are^..mostly  foun^d. 

The  rebel  brigadier  passed  some  pleasant  hours  in 
this  amusement  on  that  lake,  in  company  with  the 
chairman  of  the  State  committee,  who  is  as  earnest 
and  imtiring  a  fisherman  as  he  is  a  sagacious  and 
energetic  Democrat  and  a  genial  and  hospitable  gen- 
tleman. It  w^ould  greatly  improve  the  climate  of 
Vermont  to  say  nothing  of  its  politics  if  the  popula- 
tion were  all  like  Hiram  Atkins. 

ITo.  4. 

Passing  along  the  main  street  of  Montpelier  one 
day,  the  rebel  brigadier  heard  the  shrill  notes  of  a 


190  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

fife  upon  which  some  one  was  playing  an  old  fash- 
ioned "muster  tune,"  in  a  style  that  recalled  his 
earliest  memories  of  that  ear-piercing  instrument. 
Looking  in  the  direction  from  which  the  torturing 
sound  proceeded,  he  saw  seated  on  the  front  piazza  of 
a  hotel,  entirely  alone,  a  white  haired,  bent,  and 
shrivelled  old  man,  who  seemed  to  be  oblivious  of  all 
else  save  the  fife  in  his  hands  into  which  he  was  ex- 
hausting his  lungs.  He  did  not  seem  to  attract  any 
particular  attention,  and  yet  he  was  evidently  not  a 
street  musician,  or  playing  for  any  purpose,  appa- 
rently, except  his  own  pleasure.  It  was  a  rather  un- 
usual proceeding,  and  excited  a  curiosity  to  know  who 
the  old  man  was.  Upon  inquiry,  the  rebel  brigadier 
learned  that  he  was  '^the  fifer  of  Lundy's  Lane,"  that 
his  fife  was  his  inseparable  companion  where\^er  he 
went,  and  that  a  large  part  of  his  time  was  occupied 
in  playing  the  old  tunes  he  used  to  play  in  the  war  of 
1812.  He,  therefore,  became  interested  in  him,  and 
watched  the  old  man  as,  heedless  of  his  surroundings, 
he  trilled  tremulously  the  lively  airs  to  which  he 
marched  as  '^et  bold  soger  boy"  in  the  days  long  ago. 
Presently  the  sounds  ceased,  the  old  man  arose,  and 
putting  "his  sole  remaining  joy''  carefully  and  ten- 
derly in  his  bosom,  slowly  walked  away. 

Poor  old  fellow !  he  only  carried  'a  fife,  to  be  sure, 
in  those  early  days,  but  a  grateful  country  gave  him 
a  pension,  and  has  never  suspended  it  at  his  time  of 
greatest  need  because  his  grandchildren  engaged  in 
rebellion  as  was  done  to  many  an  old  man  south  of 
the  Potomac  who  carried  a  gim  and  shed  his  blood  for 
his  country  nearly  seventy  years  ago. 

Peace  be  with  the  aged  fifer,  and,  when  his  breath 
finally  gives  out  here,  may  he  join  his  old  command 
in  a  country  where  eternal  truth  and  justice  prevail 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  191 

and  where  the  false  judgments  of  this  world  will  be 
forever  set  aside. 

The  last  days  of  August  found  the  campaign 
drawing  to  a  close  in  Vermont,  and  the  Republicans 
labored  as  diligently  and  anxiously  as  if  they  really 
feared  a  disaster,  although  they  had  a  majority  about 
as  great  as  the  entire  Democratic  vote.  No  import- 
ance could  be  attached  to  the  result  of  the  election 
there,  unless  it  showed  a  very  decided  Democratic 
gain.  The  usual  majority  would  indicate  nothing  to 
encourage  one  side  or  depress  the  other,  but  as  the 
election  occurred  there  first,  it  was  thought  that  a  re- 
duction to  any  considerable  extent  would  stiniulate 
the  Democrats  in  other  States  and  give  strength  to 
the  Hancock  ''boom.''  In  other  words,  there  was 
nothing  to  lose,  but  everything  to  gain  for  them.  The 
rebel  brigadier  felt  that  there  was  something  of  even 
greater  importance  than  a  party  victory  at  stake,  and 
governed  himself  accordingly ;  in  all  sincerity  telling 
the  people  that — be  the  result  what  it  might — if  he 
could  feel  the  assurance  that  a  more  just  and  kindly 
spirit  towards  the  South  would  exist  ^fter  he  left 
than  before  he  came,  he  would  not  regard  his  labors 
as  fruitless.  He  hopes  that  such  is  the  case,  but  he 
is  done  with  the  "conciliation''  business  henceforth, 
so  far  as  making  appeals  to  the  justice  or  generosity 
of  the  Republican  party  of  the  North  is  concerned. 
That  duty  has  been  performed  to  its  fullest  extent, 
and  continued  efforts  in  that  direction  would  be  a 
work  of  supererogation,  and  a  waste  of  self-respect 
for  which  there  could  be  no  adequate  compensation 
in  anv  benefits  to  be  derived  therefrom. 

It  is  pleasant  to  believe  that  the  Southern  people 
will  hereafter  think  less  about  what  will  please  or 
displease  any  political  party,  and  more  of  what  will 
advance  their  own  material     welfare — that,   "with 


192  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

charity  for  all,"  they  will  not  forget  where  that  most 
excellent  virtue  begins. 

The  local  speakers  for  the  Democrats  did  excellent 
service,  and  so  did  the  State  and  local  committees, 
but,  receiving  no  substantial  aid  from  outside,  their 
burden  was  too  great  to  justify  much  hope  of  reduc- 
ing the  majority.  There  was,  therefore,  but  a  mod- 
erate amount  of  enthusiasm  displayed  on  either  side, 
and  very  little  of  the  loud  cheering  and  excitement 
so  often  witnessed  in  the  South.  The  crowds,  which 
were  often  large,  listened  generally  to  the  ^'lectures" 
without  making  any  other  demonstration  than  is 
designated  by  certain  Congressmen  when  they  inter- 
polate in  their  speeches,  before  the  printer  gets  them, 
the  words  "applause"  or  "laughter." 

Only  on  one  occasion  was  the  rebel  brigadier  rude- 
ly interrupted,  and  that  was  by  two  men,  one  white 
and  the  other  colored,  who  had  "run  the  blockade" 
on  whiskey.  A  good  natured  reply  produced  a  laugh 
at  their  expense,  and  after  the  speaking  was  over 
many  Eepublicans  came  and  expressed  regret  at  the 
interruption,  and  the  hope  that  they  would  not  be 
charj2:ed  with  any  responsibility  for  it. 

"Why,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "if  I  should  hold  you 
responsible  I  would  be  doing  the  very  thing  which  I 
have  been  protesting  against.  This  trifling  incident 
of  an  interruption  of  a  drunken  man,  or  several 
drunken  men,  furnishes  a  good  illustration  of  the  ar- 
gimient  I  have  used.  Of  course  I  have  paid  no  at- 
tention to  it,  but  suppose  the  same  thing  had  occurred 
to  a  ISTorthern  Republican  speaking;  in  the  South  ? 
The  teleirraph  would  have  flashed  throughout  the 
country  the  intelligence  of  another  ^'rebel  outrage' — 
another  evidence  of  the  intolerant  spirit  of  the  slave- 
driving  Southerner,'  and  the  like;  and  the  newspa- 


Alfked  Mooee  Waddell.  193 

pers  up  here  would  have  expatiated  upon  the  necessi- 
ty for  a  strong  government,  to  protect  the  loyal  men, 
and  all  such  stutt".  Why  do  you  not  give  us  the  ben- 
efit of  what  you  claim  for  yourselves  i  And  why  not 
be  just  in  your  judginent  of  us  V 

As  a  satisfactory  answer  to  such  questions  was  al- 
most impossible,  the  silence  which  followed  them 
could  not  be  complained  of  by  the  rebel  brigadier, 
but  if  he  lost  an  opportunity  to  refresh  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  people  as  to  their  treatment  of  the  Soutji 
he  is  not  aware  of  it. 

Candor  compels  him  to  say,  however,  that  there 
was  one  subject  about  which  he  could  not  speak  with 
any  special  pride,  and  that  was  the  condition  of  the 
educational  interests  of  his  own  State  and  of  the 
South  generally.  It  was  not  the  pleasantest  thing 
in  the  world  to  be  confronted  with  statistics  on  that 
subject.  Indeed,  notwithstanding  the  explanations 
which  he  could  and  did  make  as  to  the  fate  of  State 
school  funds  in  the  years  immediately  following  the 
war,  and  the  general  poverty  of  the  people,  and  the 
misleading  efiiect  of  the  figures,  (which  were  fre- 
quently quoted  so  as  to  ignore  the  existence  of  the  for- 
mer slave  element)  and,  notwithstanding  all  that  he 
could  honestly  say  in  any  other  direction  tending  to 
explain  the  situation,  there  was  still  a  very  un- 
comfortable balance  against  us,  which  had  to  be  ac- 
knowledged, and  it  was  mortifying  to  have  to  confess 
it.  If  the  predictions  of  the  rebel  brigadier  as  to  the 
great  improvement  in  this  respect  which  the  next  few 
years  would  witness  are  justified  by  events,  the  re- 
proach will  soon  be  removed.  And  why  should  it  not 
be  removed  at  once  and  vigorously  ?  Can  anybody 
give  a  good  reason  that  is  worth  anything  at  all  in 

13 


194  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

comparison  with  the  benefits  to  accrue  from  its  re- 
moval ? 

At  length  the  time  for  closing  the  labors  of  the 
campaign  arrived,  and  the  rebel  brigadier,  having 
discharged  his  duty,  shook  the  dust  of  Vermont  from 
his  feet  and  departed  for  the  State  of  Maine,  by  way 
of  the  White  Mountains  in  New  Hampshire,  where 
he  spent  a  day  or  two  for  the  second  time  during  the 
summer,  of  which  he  will  give  some  account  here- 
after. 

To  say  that  he  enjoyed  his  stay  in  the  Green  Moun- 
tain State  would  but  feebly  express  his  feelings.  The 
work  was  rapid  and  constant,  but  the  novelty  of  his 
surroundings,  the  beauty  of  the  scenery,  the  fresh, 
invigorating  atmosphere,  the  hearty  hospitality  of 
his  friends,  and  the  consciousness  that  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  righteous  cause  of  the  peacemaker,  (com- 
bined to  render  the  labor  easy  and  pleasant,  and  to 
make  him  feel  like  returning  again  whenever  oppor- 
tunity should  offer.  Looking  at  the  people  working  in 
their  various  callings,  and  especially  in  the  fields,  he 
could  not  help  contrasting  with  that  sterile  soil  the 
bountiful  land  from  which  he  came,  and  wondering 
if  the  industrious  and  energetic  men  and  women,  who 
labored  so  hard  to  obtain  a  bare  living,  did  really 
have  any  idea  of  what  the  same  expenditure  of  time 
and  force  would  accomplish  in  the  latitude  in  which 
he  lived. 

He  was  constantly  making  inquiry  on  this  subject, 
and  he  found  many  persons  who  evidently  knew  the 
advantao;es  of  climate,  soil  and  resources  of  all  kinds 
in  the  South,  but  who  had  been  so  poisoned  by  the 
oft-repeated  slanders  in  regard  to  the  people  that  they 
preferred  their  own  country,  with  all  its  exactions 
upon  them,  to  the  risks  which  they  believed  would 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  195 

face  them  in  the  more  genial  clime.  They  will  come 
after  awhile,  as  a  large  part  of  New  England  will, 
simply  because  the  inducements  will  be  overpower- 
ing, and  when  they  come  we  will  be  glad  to  see  them 
directing  their  energies  to  the  development  of  our 
vast  resources,  and  helping  us  to  build  up  our  great 
States.  But  whether  they  come  or  not,  the  develop- 
ment and  the  building  up  will  go  on  with  ever  in- 
creasing impetus,  and  this  goodly  land  will  ere  long 
laugh  with  plenteousness  and  peace. 

No.  5. 

A  run  of  three  or  four  hours  by  rail  from  the  val- 
ley of  the  Connecticut  River,  which  divides  Vermont 
from  New  Hampshire,  brings  the  traveler  into  the 
heart  of  the  White  Mountains,  a  region  of  country 
which  has  been  more  visited  and  oftener  described 
than  any  mountainous  part  of  America.  Never  hav- 
ing been  there  the  rebel  brigadier  was  glad  that  it 
lay  directly  on  his  way  to  Maine,  and  that  therefore 
he  would  have  an  opportunity  to  gladden  his  eyes  and 
refresh  his  nature-loving  spirit  with  a  view  of  its 
grand  and  glorious  scenery.  He  left  Vermont,  car- 
rying beneath  his  seat  in  the  car  a  small  box  of  fresh 
mountain  trout  which  an  acquaintance  had  sent  to 
the  station  for  him,  as  a  parting  present,  and  which 
was  to  furnish  the  attraction  of  his  supper  table  that 
night  at  the  Profile  House.  These  he  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  dividing  with  a  certain  small,  strongly  built, 
ruddy  man,  with  hazel  gray  eyes,  white  moustache 
and  pleasant  address,  whom  the  Southern  people  ad- 
mired greatly  in  1861  for  his  military  skill,  and 
whom  they  have  always  respected  for  his  loyalty  to 
the  Constitution,  to-wit:  George  B.  McClellan,  once 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  later 


196  Some  Memories  or  My  Life. 

the  Democratic  candidate  for  President  and  recently 
Governor  of  New  Jersey. 

The  trout  were  good  and  so  was  the  General's  con- 
versation, but  the  latter  was  somewhat  interrupted  by 
the  yelps  and  capers  of  what  looked  like  a  bunch  of 
hair  that  had  been  struck  by  lightning,  but  was  really 
a  very  diminutive  Skye  terrier  who  rejoiced  in  the 
high-sounding  title  of  Samuel  Jones  Tilden  McClel- 
lan,  and  in  being  the  property  of  an  accomplished 
young     lady.       All  this  was  at  the  Profile  House, 
which  was  the  rebel  brigadier's  first  stopping  place. 
And  what  a  place  it  is,  to  be  sure !     A  narrow-gauge 
road,  ten  miles   long,   running  southwest  from  the 
main  line  of  the  Portland  and  Ogdensburg  Railroad, 
and   winding  gradually   up  the   forest-covered   foot- 
hills, from  which  some  most  beautiful  views  are  seen, 
suddenly  emerges  right  along  the  edge  of  a  lovely 
lake,  and  thence  following  a  narrow  glen,  terminates 
behind  a  grove.     Stepping  from  the  cars  and  crossing 
a  romantic  little  bridge,  the  traveler  looks  up  and  sees 
before  him,  almost  filling  the  space  between  him  and 
a  steep  mountain  side,  a  large  white  building,  with 
heavy  pillars  and  wide  piazza,  and  turning  back  his 
gaze  toward  the  train  he  has  just  left,  it  seems  to  be 
almost  squeezed  between  himself  and  a  still  higher 
mountain.      Looking,    then,    down    the    pass,    along 
which  a  shady,  delightful  road  stretches,  he  catches 
a  glimpse  of  water  again,  and  high  above  it,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  1,200  feet,  and  standing  out  from  the  shoul- 
der of  Cannon  Mountain  with  startling  and  wonder- 
ful distinctness  against  the  clear  sky,  is  that  vast  and 
marvelous  human  profile  in  stone — forehead,  nose, 
upper  lip  and  chin — which  was  worshipped  by  the 
Indians  and  has  always  amazed  and  interested  trav- 
elers.     It  is  certainly   a  most  astonishing  freak  of 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  197 

nature    and    fascinates    the    beholder,     who    turns 
his    eyes    from    it    to    the    quiet    lake    below    only 
to    stare    again    at    that    great,    mysterious,    silent 
face,    solemnly    looking    out    over    the    hills    and 
valleys  far  towards  the  east  as  if  waiting  for  the 
judgment.     People  who  live  in  such  a  country  ought 
to  have  elevated  characters,  for  all  around  them  na- 
ture is  suggestive  of  beautiful  peace  and  sublime  as- 
piration.    The  day  which  the  rebel  brigadier  spent 
at  the  Profile  House  and  in  its  vicinity  was  one  of 
those  calm,  breezeless,  delightful  summer  days  when 
the  sun  and  clouds  were  constantly  making  beautiful 
pictures  on  the  broad  mountain  sides  and  on  the  love- 
ly water  expanses,  where  rested  a  little  fleet  of  white 
boats  that  seemed  to  be  suspended  between  two  crystal 
atmospheres  with  mutual  reflecting  powers.     No  lan- 
guage can  describe  the  sense  of  delicious  repose  and 
peace  mingled  with  exaltation  of  spirits  which  took 
possession  of  him.     The  land  was  made  for  the  resi- 
dence of  poets  and  painters,  and  for  the  development 
of  every  humanizing  influence ;  and  yet  there  is  noth- 
ing so  highly  appreciated  in  it  as  a  dollar — except 
two  dollars. 

The  hotel  easily  accommodates  500  guests,  and  has 
all  the  appliances  of  modern  civilization.  The  su- 
perintendent of  the  immense  dining-room  last  sum- 
mer was  a  recent  graduate  of  a  university,  Avho  was 
serving  in  that  capacity  in  order  to  acquire  funds 
sufficient  to  complete  his  theological  studies,  and 
seemed  to  be  a  gentleman  who  was  in  no  danger  of 
failure  in  his  profession  on  account  of  that  shrinking 
modesty  which  is  so  becoming  but  so  often  disastrous 
to  a  clerical  career.  The  rebel  brigadier  would  reck- 
lessly risk  a  per  capita  share  of  the  North  Carolina 
school  fund  that  this  person  will  preach  with  confi- 
dence, if  not  with  power,  and  that  he  will  enter  upon 


198  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

his  vocation  more  familiar  with  the  ways  of  this 
wicked  world  than  with  the  Codex  Sinaiticus. 

The  Eranconia  ^otch  in  which  the  hotel  stands  is 
1,974  feet  above  the  sea,  and  Eagle  Clitf,  one  of  the 
spurs  of  Mount  Lafayette,  near  the  hotel,  is  1,472 
feet  above  this  level,  or  3,466  feet  above  the  sea,  and 
back  of  this  spur  Lafayette  lifts  its  conical  and  pre- 
cipitous form  to  an  altitude  of  5,259  feet.  This  pile 
of  mountains  is  on  one  side  of  the  narrow  gorge  and 
on  the  opposite  side  is  the  Cannon  Mountain,  3,850 
feet  above  the  sea-level  and  1,876  feet  above  the  Pro- 
file House.  On  one  of  the  shoulders  of  this  Mount 
Cannon,  at  a  height  of  a  thousand  feet,  is  Lonesome 
Lake,  where  in  the  depth  of  the  wild  woods  Mr.  W. 
C.  Prime  and  Mr.  Bridge,  of  New  York,  have  built  a 
delightful  summer  residence.  They  own  the  lake 
and  the  land  around  it,  and  being  men  of  culture  and 
fond  of  field  sports,  they  enjoy  life  there  hugely.  The 
ascent  of  Mount  Lafayette,  three  and  three-fourths 
miles,  opens  a  view  almost  equal  to  that  from  Mount 
Washington,  and  embracing  a  horizon  reaching  from 
Canada  around  the  Green  Mountains  in  Vermont 
do^vn  to — it  makes  no  difference  where,  but  it  is 
magnificent.  All  around  this  Profile  House,  in  fact, 
there  is  an  infinite  variety  of  scenery  and  natural 
curiosities,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  which  is 
the  Flume,  a  narrow  gorge  700  feet  long  and  only 
about  fifteen  feet  w^ide,  cut  down  through  the  solid 
walls  for  sixty  feet,  over  the  smooth,  rocky  bed  of 
which  a  thin  silvery  sheet  of  water  glides,  and  sus- 
pended between  the  perpendicular  walls  of  which 
hangs  an  immense  and  frightful  looking  boulder, 
which  rolled  down  and  was  caught  ages  ago  between 
the  jaws  of  the  ravine.  Lakes,  cascades,  pools,  and 
trout  brooks  abound  in  the  vicinity,  and,  overshadow- 


Alfeed  Moore  Waddell.  199 

ing  all  rise  the  majestic  hills  on  either  side  of  the 
Pemigewassett  Valley  which  wanders  down  in  bewil- 
dering beauty  for  thirty  miles.  What  a  contrast  that 
region  presents  this  February  day,  on  which  these 
lines  are  written,  to  that  which  it  offered  on  that  de- 
lightful August  morning  when  the  rebel  brigadier 
rambled  through  it ;  and  how  typical  of  humanity  has 
been  the  transformation !  The  brief,  warm  season  of 
matured  growth  and  beauty,  when  the  air  was  musi- 
cal with  the  voices  of  the  singing  streams  and  whis- 
pering woods,  and  the  hills  were  throbbing  in  the  sun- 
shine with  the  full  pulsations  of  exuberant  life,  has 
passed.  Death  and  silence  reign,  and  the  earth  lies 
cold  and  stiff  in  her  white  funeral  robe.  But  in  a 
little  while — after  a  little  more  slumber — a  voice  will 
call,  the  white  robe  will  slip  from  hillside  and  valley, 
the  color,  faint  at  first  but  growing  apace,  will  re- 
turn to  the  face  of  nature,  and  soon  she  will  rise 
again  in  all  her  glorious  beauty,  while  the  floods  clap 
their  hands,  and  the  hills  are  joyful  together  at  the 
resurrection.  St.  PauFs  expression  about  being  "wor- 
thy of  the  resurrection,''  and  the  connection  in  which 
it  was  used  has  raised  doubts  in  many  a  pious  soul 
whether  all  men  would  rise  again — whether  in  other 
words,  annihilation  would  not  be  the  fate  of  the  most 
wicked.  Is  this  doubt  justified  by  any  analogy 
which  can  be  drawn  from  nature  ?  This  speculation 
reminds  the  rebel  brigadier  that  a  few  miles  from  the 
Profile  House  he  stopped  at  the  Twin-Mountain 
House,  where  Henry  Ward  Beecher  preaches  in  sum- 
mer under  a  big  tent  and  expounds  what  they  call 
"Broad  Church  Congregationalism  and  Christian 
Liberty,"  which  is  rather  an  indefinite  definition  of 
a  system  of  theology,  but  is  doubtless  comfortable  for 
the  intellectual  digestive  organs  of  the  average  sum- 


200  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

mer  boarder  of  the  gentler  sex  in  that  part  of  the 
country. 

Between  the  Profile  House  and  the  Twin-Mountain 
House  is  the  little  cluster  of  hotels  and  boarding 
houses  called  Bethlehem,  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
of  all  the  White  Mountain  resorts.  There  were 
about  2,500  persons  spending  the  season  there  last 
year.  The  fact  is,  that  whole  region  swarms  with 
travelers  during  July  and  August,  and  much  enter- 
tainment may  be  had  by  observing  the  manners  and 
peculiarities  of  the  motley  crowd.  By  the  way,  how 
any  person  who  is  insensible  to  the  ridiculous  can 
manage  to  get  much  amusement  out  of  this  world  is 
a  profound  mystery.  Such  persons  are  certainly  not 
to  be  envied,  for  they  miss  boundless  opportunities 
to  laugh  and  grow  fat.  It  is,  however,  sometimes 
unfortunate  for  one  to  possess  too  lively  a  sense  of  the 
ridiculous.  It  causes  trouble  with  irritable  folks. 
But  where  the  person  who  excites  this  sentiment  is  all 
unconscious  of  being  an  object  of  peculiar  interest, 
except  perhaps  in  the  way  of  admiration,  and  where 
there  is  no  pain  involved  in  its  enjoyment,  a  keen 
sense  of  the  ludicrous  is  a  valuable  possession.  [N'ow, 
there  is  nothing  ridiculous  in  a  diamond,  per  se,  but 
sometimes  there  is  fun  in  the  flash  of  that  jewel,  and 
when  a  number  of  them  get  together  on  the  wrong 
person,  or  at  the  wrong  time  or  place,  they  actually 
seem  to  tremble  and  sparkle  with  a  humorous  con- 
sciousness of  their  own  grotesque  appearance.  The 
rivalry  among  men,  women  and  children  at  these 
fashionable  resorts  to  make  the  greatest  display  of 
these  precious  stones,  and  the  innocent  violation  of 
good  taste  exhibited  by  them,  was  often  a  source  of 
quiet  amusement  to  the  rebel  brigadier.  Morning, 
noon  and  night,  at  breakfast,  dinner  and  supper,  in 


Alfked  Mooee  Waddell.  201 

the   parlor,    on    the    promenade,    on   lake    or   shore, 
in  railway  trains  or  stage  coaches,  in  ball-room  as  in 
church — every^vhere,  at  all  times,  by  almost  every- 
body, they  were  worn,  as  solitaires  or  in  clusters,  on 
hands  and  ears  and  necks  and  shirt-fronts  and  (they 
do  say)  on  garters  and  things  unmentionable.     The 
next  time  he  goes  to  a  summer  resort,  the  rebel  brig- 
adier will  investigate  the  ti-uth  of  this  last  assertion 
— by  asking  a  married  man  if  he  knows  how  it  is. 
This  absurd  display  was  made  by  persons  from  the 
large  cities   principally,   but  not  exclusively,  for  it 
was  very  general.     In  many  cases  the  glittering  gems 
sparkled  on  ears  and  fingers  heavily  coated  with  soot 
and  cinders  and  streaked  with  rivulets  of  perspira- 
tion, which  oozed  from  the  pores  of  their  oleaginous 
possessors.     Very  few  were  heirlooms,  a  great  many 
had  been  hired  from  jewelers  for  the  season,  on  col- 
lateral security,  and,  perhaps,  more  still  were  only 
paste ;  but  all  served  the  purpose  of  making  what  Mr. 
Mantalini  would  have  called  a  ^'demnition  shine," 
and  that  was  happiness  enough.     Fat  people  and  lean 
people,  tall  people  and  short  people,  spectacled,  one- 
eyed  and  deaf  people,  young  women  leading  "pug" 
dogs,   wheezing  grandmothers,   thin-legged   children, 
snobs  with  muttonchop  whiskers,  and  hair  parted  in 
the  middle,  as  well  as  old  fellows  as  bald  as  an  egg — 
all  wore  diamonds,  real  or  counterfeit,  and  doubtless 
slept  with  them  on.     It  was  a  diamond  carnival,  and 
was,  to  use  a  Chatham  phrase,  "plumb  ridiculous." 
Beyond  the  Twun-Mountain  is  the  far-famed  Fa- 
byan  House,  directly  on  the  main  line  of  travel,  and 
right  in  front  of  the  junction     from  which     roads 
branch  off  to  Mount  Washington  and  other  places. 
It  is  an  immense  wooden  structure,  with  airy  rooms 
and  a  very  large  office  and  dining  room,  and  is  always 


202  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

full  pf  ;people.  The  strains  of  a  good  orchestra 
greet  the  traveler  as  he  arrives  at  the  station,  and 
he  recognizes,  perhaps,  as  he  enters  the  building  one 
of  Strauss' s  beautiful  waltzes,  to  whose  rythmic 
swing  bevies  of  young  girls  are  circling  on  the  wide 
piazzas.  This  is  a  central  point  in  the  White  Moun- 
tains, from  which  streams  of  humanity  are  constantly 
pouring  in  various  directions,  and  a  rendezvous  for 
tourists  who  have  separated  at  other  places.  There  is 
nothing  remarkable  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  but 
there  are  many  wonderful  and  attractive  places  with- 
in a  few  miles  of  it,  chief  of  which  is  Mount  AVash- 
ington,  with  its  astonishing  railway  and  other  inter- 
esting features,  a  notice  of  which,  with  other  matters, 
will  be  given  in  the  next  number  of  these  papers. 

The  rebel  brigadier  had  a  good  dinner  at  the  Fa- 
byan,  which  the  eccentricities  of  a  female  who  sat 
near  him  rendered  easy  of  digestion,  by  keeping  him 
in  a  state  of  suppressed  merriment  during  his  masti- 
catory exercises.  Perhaps  he  may  attempt  to  de- 
scribe that,  too. 

:n'o.  6. 

It  was  a  clear  August  day  at  the  Fabyan  House. 
The  atmosphere  was  as  pure  and  pleasant  as  it  is  on 
a  bright  October  morning  in  the  latitude  of  Cape 
Fear.  The  hotel  piazzas  were  thronged  with  per- 
sons of  all  ages  and  both  sexes,  the  older  of  whom  sat 
in  easy  chairs  or  slowly  promenaded  back  and  forth, 
while  others  read  the  daily  papers  or  chatted  in  fam- 
ily groups.  Occasionally  an  unmistakable  bridal 
couple  could  be  observed,  and  very  frequently  persons 
who  were  engaged  in  looking  around  for  a  chance  to 
sacrifice  themselves  to  that  state  of  life  whenever  a 
desirable  opportunity  presented  itself.     Children  ran 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  203 

about,  followed  by  nurses  in  French  caps,  the  orches- 
tra were  playing  lively  waltzes  or  popular  songs,  and 
in  front  of  the  hotel,  at  a  distance  of  about  one  hun- 
dred yards,  a  train  of  open  excursion  cars,  htted  with 
revolving  chairs,  was  standing  on  the  track  of  the 
road  to  Mount  Washington,  waiting  for  the  arrival  of 
other  trains  on  the  main  line.  Presently,  upon 
the  announcement  that  the  train  is  coming,  there  is 
u  general  movement  of  such  of  the  crowd  as 
intend  visiting  the  mountain,  towards  the  station. 
Overcoats  and  shawls  are  on  almost  every  arm, 
and  finally,  when  all  are  comfortably  seated, 
the  train  pulls  out  for  the  foot  of  Mount  Washington 
and  the  excitement  of  expectation  begins.  The  dis- 
tance from  Fabyan's  is  six  miles,  and  after  the  train 
starts  every  eye  turns  toward  the  great  brownish- 
gray  looking  masses  of  which  it  forms  the  most  con- 
spicuous feature.  There  it  stands,  and  from  this  du 
tance  the  railroad  which  climbs  its  rocky  breast  seems 
like  a  pale,  narrow  ribbon  clinging  almost  perpen- 
dicularly to  it  from  head  to  foot.  Winding  around 
the  narrow  valley  of  the  Ammonoosuc  by  heavy 
grades  the  train  glides  along  and  at  last  halts  on  a 
little  plateau.  There  is  a  rush  from  it  towards  an- 
other track  which  begins  at  this  point,  and  on  whic'.i 
are  standing  some  of  the  queerest  looking  engines  im- 
aginable— small,  but  very  powerful  machines,  of 
complicated  and  peculiar  construction  and  with  boil- 
ers set  at  an  angle.  This  is  the  celebrated  mountain 
railroad.  There  is,  in  addition  to  the  side  rails,  i 
central  rail  about  six  inches  wide,  containing  cogs 
into  which  a  cog-wheel  on  the  engine  plays,  and  when 
the  engine  is  at  work  thi^^  cog-wheel  makes  a  grinding, 
rumbling  sound  which  is  not  at  all  musical.  Ther-J 
is  only  one  small  car  to  each  locomotive,  the  car  be- 


204  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

ing  pushed  up  the  mountain  and  held  back  when 
coming  down  by  this  ratchetting  process.  The  jour- 
ney to  the  top  of  the  mountain  is  three  miles  long, 
and  the  time  required  is  an  hour  and  a  half.  Ths 
rebel  brigadier  had  been  scared  during  his  life  about 
as  often,  perhaps,  as  other  folks.  He  had  been  in 
one  or  two  horrible  railroad  wrecks,  in  a  steamboat 
collision,  and  once  on  a  ship  afire  a  hundred  miles 
at  sea,  besides  the  experiences  between  1861  and 
1865 ;  but  he  was  a  little  worse  scared  for  a  few  min- 
utes while  ascending  Mount  Washington  than  ever 
before.  The  grade  at  the  trestle  called  Jacob's  Lad 
der  is  1,980  feet  to  the  mile,  or  one  foot  in  three; 
and  as  the  trestle  is  raised  about  thirty  feet  from  the 
rocks,  and  winds  right  around  the  edge  of  the  moun- 
tain, about  a  mile  up  in  the  air,  the  traveler,  without 
moving  his  position  but  by  merely  lowering  his  eyes, 
can  see,  yawning  down,  down,  down  below  him,  a 
gulf  like  the  bottomless  pit.  Looking  ahead,  there 
climbs  the  steel  track  before  him,  up,  up,  up  the  appa- 
rently endless  steep  until  his  lower-jaw  teeth  seem 
to  be  rising  out  of  their  sockets  and  all  his  blood  set- 
tling in  his  heels.  The  prevailing  idea  in  his  mind 
about  this  time  is,  that  if  anything  should  break, 
lightning  couldn't  overtake  him  going  down  the  aw- 
ful slope  behind  him.  It  is  true  that  no  serious  acci- 
dent has  ever  happened  on  the  road,  and  that  there 
are  more  than  seven  different  arrangements  of  the 
engine  which  supplement  the  cogs,  and  render  acci- 
dents almost  impossible,  but  he  is  scared  all  the  same, 
and  feels  that  if  he  was  sitting  on  one  of  the  rocks 
around  him  he  could  enjoy  the  scenery  more,  for  by 
this  time  the  scenery  is  becoming  very  grand.  Just 
about  this  point,  the  trees,  which  have  been  dwind- 
ling gradually,  give  out  entirely,  and  there  is  no  veg- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  205 

etation  amidst  the  wilderness  of  broken  rocks,  except 
the  mosses  and  ferns  and  little  flowers  of  the  highest 
latitudes.  He  has  put  on  his  overcoat  by  this  time 
and  feels  comfortable  in  it.  And  so  he  goes  slowly 
up  to  the  summit,  and  steps  from  the  car  to  the  piaz- 
za of  the  Summit  House,  a  three-story  building, 
which,  in  addition  to  the  usual  secure  foundations, 
has  been  literally  tied  down  and  fastened  to  the  rocks 
to  keep  from  being  blown  away.  The  rocks  on  which 
this  house  is  built  are  6,293  feet,  or  nearly  a  mile  and 
a  quarter,  above  the  sea-level.  Near  the  hotel  are  the 
signal  service  station  and  the  ofiice  of  a  little  news- 
paper, called  Among  the  Clouds,  which  is  published 
daily  and  furnished  to  nearly  all  the  ten  thousand  vis- 
itors who  go  there  during  the  season. 

The  view  from  the  top  of  Mount  Washington  is 
indescribably  grand  in  its  vast  sweep,  and  in  the  va- 
riety of  scenery  which  it  embraces.  If  the  statements 
currently  circulated  are  true — and  they  certainly  ap- 
pear so  to  the  visitor — the  total  boundary  line  of 
vision  encircles  a  space  of  a  thousand  miles  in  cir- 
cumference, and  takes  in  a  part  of  Canada  and  parts 
of  five  different  States  of  the  Union,  as  well  as  points 
on  the  sea  at  Portland,  Maine,  and  Old  Orchard 
Beach.  The  panorama  spread  out  before  the  eye  is 
sublime  and  in  almost  every  direction  there  is,  at 
shorter  or  longer  distances,  the  glitter  of  water, 
sleeping  in  the  bosom  of  the  hills,  or  pouring  down  the 
valleys  to  the  sea.  Here  and  there  in  the  far  dis- 
tance a  broader  patch  of  light  marks  the  site  of  some 
great  lake,  on  which  the  summer  sunbeams  rest ; 
again,  half  buried  amidst  dark  shadows  of  some  re- 
mote mountain,  the  white  buildings  of  a  hotel  or 
hamlet  may  be  seen ;  down  in  the  nearer  glens  the 
stage-coaches  crawl  along  the  yellow  roads  like  ants  to 


206  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

and  from  their  hives ;  immediately  north  loom  up  the 
majestic  cones  of  Mount  Clay  and  Mount  Jefferson, 
which  seem  but  a  step  across  the  intervening  valleys, 
and  behind  them  Mount  Adams  and  Mount  Madison 
lift  their  gray  heads  to  the  clouds;  while  further 
north  still,  in  the  blue  distance,  the  peaks  tumble, 
and  fade  away  into  Canada.  Turning  to  the  east  the 
Maine  lakes  and  mountains,  like  a  far-off  picture, 
greet  the  eye ;  and  so  turning  t->  the  south  and  west,  a 
succession  of  grand  and  glorious  views  are  spread  out 
as  far  as  the  Lake  Champlain  country  and  the  Adi- 
rondacks.  and  sweeping  thence  north  again,  along 
the  Green  Mountain  range  into  Canada.  Of  course 
the  full  picture  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Washing- 
ton can  not  be  seen  except  upon  a  particularly  clear 
day,  and  in  this  respect  the  rebel  brigadier  was  very 
fortunate,  as  there  was  very  little  haze  in  the  atmos- 
phere, and  the  cloud  nictures  were  unusually  fine. 

The  descent  of  the  mountain  is  at  the  same  slow 
gait  as  the  ascent,  and  when  the  foot  is  reached  there 
is  a  sense  of  relief,  as  after  some  catastrophe  that  has 
been  successfully  escaped.  Conversation,  which 
had  suddenly  ceased  at  the  steep  places,  and  had  not 
been  resumed — except  in  a  jerky  way,  as  if  the  pas- 
sengers had  all  been  simultaneously  seized  with  a 
conviction  of  their  sins,  or  the  stomachache— now 
breaks  out  with  unrestrained  volubility,  and  the  lit- 
tle station  where  they  wait  for  the  train  to  Fabyan's 
becomes  vocal  with  the  chatter  of  many  tongues  and 
the  ring  of  merry  laughter.  The  hour  for  departure 
comes,  and  the  train  whizzes  down  the  grades  and 
around  the  gradual  curves  of  the  Ammonoosuc,  and, 
runnino:  out  on  the  level  to  the  junction  at  Fabyan's, 
there  disgorges  its  load  of  passemrers.  Most  of  the 
male  ones  seem  to  be  impressed  with  the  immediate 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  207 

necessity  of  interviewing  somebody,  and,  strangely 
enough,  they  all  happen  to  seek  the  same  person,  and 
this  person  ^'^  one  of  those  ^^meejums"  between  man- 
kind and  spirits  whose  communications  far  surpass 
those  of  the  ordinary  kind  in  that  they  can  cause  not 
only  the  faith  but  the  legs  of  the  interviewer  to  stag- 
ger, and  can  bring  more  wild  visions  into  the  mind, 
and  more  red  marks  on  the  flesh,  than  Foster,  in  his 
most  successful  hour  ever  dreamed  of.  The  presence 
of  this  particular  medium  was  overpowering  in  other 
respects.  He  w^ore  a  shirt  bosom  spotless  enough  to 
satisfy  the  ambition  of  a  Millerite  in  search  of  his 
ascension  robe  and  almost  blinding  with  its  flashing 
heap  of  diamonds,  and  a  crow^n  of  hair  that  was — 
well,  simply  ravishing.  His  style,  too,  in  plying  his 
vocation,  and  the  air  of  condescension  with  which  he 
accepted  the  small  modicum  of  filthy  lucre  with  which 
the  dust-covered  traveler  meekly  sought  to  placate 
him,  was  very  impressive.  There  was  a  lofty  scorn, 
too,  in  his  manner,  and  a  repressed  light  in  his  eye, 
which  excited  the  alarming  suspicion  that  he  might 
be  a  nobleman  in  disguise.  This  expression  was 
most  observable  when  the  visitor  to  his  shrine  would 
utter  the  cheap  words,  "ein  lager,"  or  the  vulgar 
phrase,  "whiskey  straight,''  and  there  was  no  soften- 
ing of  the  lines  upon  his  haughty  brow,  until  some 
delicate  looking  young  prig,  with  an  eye  glass,  and  a 
slender  cane  held  by  the  middle,  came  walking  up, 
with  elbows  stuck  out,  legs  wide  apart,  and  spine 
curved  over,  like  a  demoralized  eat,  and  lisped  out 
a  desire  to  consume  "a  small  bottle — Eoederer." 
Then  an  expression  almost  approaching^  a  smile,  but 
sad,  very  sad,  flitted  over  the  medium's  face,  like — 
yes,  it  may  have  been — like  the  swift  shadow  of  a 
summer  cloud  over  the  gray  walls  of  his  ancestral 
chateau  in  a  far  foreign  land.     It  may  have  been, 


208  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

but  it  was  not,  for  the  bar-keeper  was  named  Smith, 
and  his  home  was  in  j^ew  York. 

Dinner-hour  is  a  witching  time  to  the  hungry,  no 
matter  what  time  of  day  it  comes.  There  is  no  great 
romance  about  it  if  you  have  to  take  that  meal  at  12 
o'clock  m.  and  be  in  a  hurry,  too,  to  get  back  to  your 
work,  as  is  generally  the  case  in  New  England;  but 
to  enter  a  vast  dining-room  in  the  cool  hours  of  a 
summer  evening,  where  there  are  hundreds  of  persons 
who,  like  yourself,  are  mere  travelers  stopping  for  a 
day  or  two  to  see  the  sights  and  be  amused,  is  very 
often  the  prelude  to  an  hour  of  fun  and  enjoyment 
of  various  kinds,  which  renders  digestion  easy  and 
secures  sound  repose  for  the  ensuing  night  to  the 
tired  frame. 

There  was  the  usual  number  of  "characters"  at  the 
Fabyan  House  that  day,  of  both  se.ces,  and  also  a 
large  number  of  well-bred  people  who  attracted  no 
particular  attention  because  they  were  well-bred. 
That  interesting  animal,  characterized  in  our  earlier 
phraseology  as  the  "lady-killer,"  but  dubbed  in  mod- 
ern slang  "the  masher,"  was  there,  of  course,  for  they 
infest  all  the  summer  resorts.  It  is  sweet  to  contem- 
plate one  of  these  festive  creatures,  when  engaged  in 
the  delicate  discussion  of  the  ordinary  hotel  cuisine. 
The  graceful  poising  of  his  fork,  the  tender  handling 
of  his  napkin,  the  melting  glance?  which  he  bestows 
upon  the  attractive  young  female,  and  the  general 
appearance  of  having  been  born  tired  which  he  pre- 
sents, inspire  the  beholder  with  profound  emotion. 
It  makes  a  disposition  to  commit  homicide  appear  to 
be  virtuous. 

The  "loud"  female  was  also  there  in  all  her  opu- 
lence of  bad  taste  in  dress  and  demeanor  and  her  au- 
dible display  of  unfamiliarity  with  the  rules  of  gram- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  209 

mar.     Visiting  such  places  for  the  purpose  of  being 
seen,  she  does  not  for  a  moment  forget  this  purpose, 
but  generouslv  permits  the  public  to  see  more  of  her 
<^hen  in  full  dress  than  at  any  other  time,  and  to  hear 
more  of  her  philosophic  observations  upon  the  state 
of  the  female  dry  goods  market  and  the  like  than 
could  be  obtained  anywhere  outside  of  a  furnishing 
establishment.     One  of  these  dear,  delightful  persons 
sat  near  the  rebel  brigadier  on  that  August  day,  and, 
m  conversation  with  her  companion,  imparted  a  large 
amount  of  information  which  ought  not  to  be  lost 
to  the  world,  but  probably  will  be  unless  the  quiet 
and  refined  lady  who  sat  opposite  the  rebel  brigadier 
and  whose  eyes  twinkled  every  now  and  then  during 
the  entertainment,  especially  when  she  caught  him 
about  to  choke,  was  an  authoress.     If  such  be  the 
case  we  will  probably  see  it  in  print.     A   Shaker 
friend  with  whom  the  rebel  brigadier  was  talking, 
and  who  had  heard  and  seen  the  dear  creature  dur- 
ing  this  conversation,  said  in  reply  to  a  remark  which 
the  rebel  brigadier  addressed  to  him,  and  in  the  grave 
and  measured  tone  of  his  fraternity,  ''Yea,  she  seem- 
eth  unwise  and  frivolous." 

'No.  7. 

The  train  from  the  West  comes  booming  along, 
and  the  rebel  brigadier,  bidding  farewell  to  the  Fab^ 
yan  House,  selects  a  revolving  chair  in  one  of  the 
open  observation  cars,  seats  himself,  takes  a  last  look 
at  the  crowded  piazza,  lights  a  cigar,  and,  as  the 
notes  of  the  ''Beautiful  Blue  Danube"  float  out  to 
him  on  the  bright,  clear  atmosphere,  glides  away 
towards  the  celebrated  and  incomparable  Notch, 
through  which  the  Portland  and  Ogdensburg  Eailroad 


210  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

passes  into  the  Willey  Valley,  and  on  down  through 
marvels  of  scenery,  to  the  coast.  There  is  a  full  view 
of  Mount  Washington  for  some  distance  after  the 
train  leaves  Pabyan's.  In  a  little  while  the  grade  of 
the  road  steepens  to  about  eighty  feet  to  the  mile, 
before  reaching  the  plateau,  from  which  it  plunges 
down  the  valley.  On  this  plateau  is  situated  the 
Crawford  House,  a  very  large  and  celebrated  hotel. 
In  front  of  this  hotel  is  a  little  lake,  the  head  of  the 
Saco  River,  and  not  far  off  is  Mount  Willard,  the 
view  from  which  has  been  greatly  praised.  The  train 
stops  at  the  Crawford  a  little  while,  and  here  the 
first  glimpse  of  the  gate  of  the  Notch,  down  which 
the  track  winds,  is  obtained.  There  are  a  great  many 
cascades  and  falls  in  the  vicinity,  some  of  which 
are  said  to  be  very  beautiful,  but  not  as  yet  very 
easy  of  access.  Leaving  the  Crawford  and  starting 
down  the  valley  the  passenger's  attention  is  called 
to  a  white  building,  far  below  him,  in  the  bottom 
of  the  ravine,  and  he  is  informed  that  it  is  the  his- 
toric Willey  house,  where  a  whole  family  were  de- 
stroyed in  the  summer  of  1826  by  an  avalanche. 
Unlike  the  trains  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail- 
road, which  whirl  down  the  Cheat  River  Mountains 
with  such  frightful  speed,  the  train  of  open  observa- 
tion cars  on  the  Portland  and  Ogdensburg  road 
moves  more  slowly,  and  gives  the  traveler  excellent 
opportunities  to  view  the  scenery  before  him,  behind 
him,  and  all  around  him.  The  track  clings  closely 
to  the  mountain  side,  and  is,  at  some  points,  so  high 
above  the  bottom  of  the  valley  that  the  trees  down 
there  look  like  small  shrubs.  At  the  Frankenstein 
gulf  it  crosses  a  trestle  eighty  feet  high  and  five  hun- 
dred feet  long,  and,  all  along  this  part  of  the  route 
especially,    the    scenery    far    surpasses    any    in    the 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  211 

White  Mountain  region.  The  effect  upon  the  passen- 
gers is  one  of  continuous  enthusiasm.  Exclamations 
are  heard  on  all  sides  at  almost  every  curve  of  the 
track  when  some  new  and  splendid  panorama  is 
opened  to  the  view.  The  rebel  brigadier  unquali- 
fiedly pronounces  the  trip  through  the  Notch,  from 
Crawford's  down  to  l^orth  Conway,  infinitely  supe- 
rior in  its  wealth  of  splendid  scenery  to  anything 
his  eyes  ever  rested  on.  But  he  will  not  attempt  to 
describe  w^hat  has  been  the  theme  of  so  many  in- 
spired pens  and  brushes.  He  will  proceed  with  his 
true  and  homely  narrative,  like  the  veracious  chron- 
icler he  is,  and  tell  how  he  was  impressed  by  things 
in  Maine. 

Arriving  at  Portland  in  the  afternoon  his  first  de- 
sire was  to  take  a  good  look  at  the  beautiful  harbor 
of  which  he  had  heard  so  much.  He  did  so  from  a 
very  favorable  point  of  view  and  was  disappointed, 
perhaps  because  he  expected  too  much.  It  is,  how- 
ever, a  spacious  and  well  protected  anchorage,  but 
not  nearly  equal  to  some  others  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 
Portland  is  a  lively  city  of  about  35,000  inhabitants 
and  has  some  fine  public  buildings  of  marble  and 
granite,  and  many  handsome  private  residences. 
Here  was  born  that  almost  supernatural  orator,  Sar- 
gent S.  Prentiss,  to  whose  extraordinary  power  Dan- 
iel Webster  paid  an  enthusiastic  tribute,  after  stand- 
ing an  hour  or  more  and  listening  to  his  speech  vin- 
dicating his  right  to  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives from  Mississippi. 

Inquiring  for  the  Democratic  headquarters  the 
rebel  brigadier  was  directed  to  a  building  near  the 
hotel,  and  entering  it  he  was  ushered  into  a  room 
where  a  quiet  little  man,  with  gray  whiskers  and 
sharp  black  eyes,  was  seated,  receiving,  opening,  and 


212  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

answering  telegrams  and  letters.  He  was  a  man  of 
few  words,  and  had  the  appearance  of  being  over- 
worked, but  was  cordial  in  his  reception  of  the  rebel 
brigadier  and  immediately  informed  him  that  he  was 
advertised  for  that  evening  at  Biddeford,  for  which 
place  he  must  take  the  next  train.  There  was  a  bus- 
iness air  about  him,  and  a  tone  of  half  command 
which  was  really  pleasing  to  the  new  recruit.  While 
sitting  there  a  bright,  talkative,  humorous  New 
Yorker,  who  was  also  engaged  in  the  canvass,  came 
in,  and  amused  the  rebel  brigadier  with  an  account 
of  his  speech  at  some  place  on  the  coast  the  evening 
before.  His  description  of  the  audience  and  of  the 
manner  in  which,  after  feeling  his  way  to  their  sym- 
pathies, he  had  carefully  avoided  the  greenback  ques- 
tion, and  had  spent  his  force  on  Mrs.  Hayes's  new 
set  of  china  for  the  White  House,  winding  up  with 
a  temperance  lecture,  was  very  laughable.  In  obedi- 
ence to  General  Order  'No.  1  from  the  little  man  with 
the  gray  whiskers,  the  rebel  brigadier  left  on  the 
first  train  (late  afternoon)  for  Biddeford.  The 
road  runs  down,  the  coast  right  along  a  number  of 
famous  beaches,  and  at  Old  Orchard  Beach  passes 
between  the  hotels  and  the  surf.  It  being  the  first 
time  in  several  months  that  he  had  snuffed  the  sea- 
breeze,  and  watched  the  breakers  roll  in,  he  was 
greatly  refreshed  by  the  sight  and  felt  like  jumping 
out  of  the  train  and  rushins:  into  the  water.  Arriv- 
ing  at  Biddeford  he  was  met  by  a  number  of  gentle- 
men, among  whom  was  one — tall  spare,  clerical-look- 
ing, with  close-cut  gray  hair  and  prominent  features, 
whom  he  at  once  recognized,  although  he  had  never 
seen  him  before,  as  Governor  Garcelon,  the  man  who 
came  so  near  being  famous  two  or  three  years  ago 
when  a  thirst  for  gore  prevailed  among  the  Maine 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  213 

politicians.  The  meeting  in  the  city  building  that 
night  was  immense.  As  one  of  the  city  papers  ex- 
pressed it,  the  place  ^'was  densely  packed  with  enthu- 
siastic men,  and  by  those,  too,  who  came  to  get  a 
glance  at  a  'rebel  brigadier,'  as  the  Christian  states- 
men who  perambulate  our  State  waving  the  bloody 
shirt  call  them.  The  expression  of  all  who -attended 
the  meeting  is  that  it  was  the  most  successful  one 
ever  held  here." 

It  was  the  first  time  the  rebel  brigadier  ever  had 
the  pleasure  of  facing  an  audience  of  simon-pure 
down-easters,  but  they  made  him  feel  entirely  ''to 
hum"  from  the  outset  by  the  cordiality  of  their  greet- 
ing and  by  the  interest  they  manifested  in  what  he 
had  to  say.  The  chairman  very  kindly  notified  him 
that  if,  when  9  o'clock  came,  a  large  part  of  the  audi- 
ence should  leave,  he  must  not  attribute  it  to  any 
want  of  respect  or  lack  of  interest,  because  it  was  a 
laboring  population,  who  invariably  left  any  meeting 
at  that  hour.  Therefore,  as  Governor  Garcelon  spoke 
until  fifteen  minutes  of  nine,  the  rebel  brigadier  be- 
gan to  feel  discouraged,  but  when  he  closed,  at  a  little 
after  10  o'clock,  there  were  not  a  half  dozen  vacant 
seats  in  the  hall,  though  many  seemed  to  have  caught 
cold  by  the  unusual  dissipation,  as  they  were  contin- 
ually using  their  handkerchiefs. 

Returning  to  headquarters  at  Portland  for  fur- 
ther orders,  and,  dropping  in  at  the  leading  newspa- 
per office,  he  asked  for  a  ISTorth  Carolina  exchange, 
in  order  to  see  how  the  canvass  was  progressing  at 
home,  and  was  informed  that  they  did  not  take  a 
North  Carolina  paper,  but  could  furnish  him  with  a 
Georgia  or  Virginia  one! 

There  was  a  large  Republican  meeting  that  night 
in  Portland,   and  it  was  evident  that  the  brethren 


214  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

of  that  party  were  getting  badly  '^'skeert/'  They 
did  not  exhibit  as  much  enthusiasm  as  the  ^'Fusion- 
ists,"  but  made  a  fine  display.  It  was  the  2nd  day 
of  September,  and  the  whole  State  was  in  a  blaze  of 
excitement.  Meetings  were  held  almost  every  day 
in  every  town  and  village,  and  speakers  of  both  par- 
ties from  different  States  were  holding  forth  every- 
where. The  little  man  with  the  gray  whiskers  was 
as  busy  as  a  bee,  and  wore  a  sly  smile  all  the  time, 
which  encouraged  the  rebel  brigadier  as  he  left  for 
new  pastures. 

No.  8. 

Among  the  melancholy  incidents  of  the  writer^s 
experience  in  New  England  may  be  numbered  the 
meeting,  now  and  then,  unexpectedly,  with  an  ex- 
Confederate  soldier  of  Northern  birth,  who,  having 
moved  to  the  South  when  a  boy,  and  having  been 
swept  away  with  the  tide,  fought  out  the  war  on  that 
side,  and  then,  when  all  was  lost  and  the  future 
looked  desperate,  had  wandered  back  to  the  region 
of  his  birth  to  seek  a  living  in  silence  and  obscurity. 
It  was  most  natural  to  feel  somewhat  tenderly  to- 
wards such  men.  Their  career  was  not  generally 
known  to  their  neighbors,  and,  of  course,  they  were 
not  anxious  to  spread  a  knowledge  of  it  themselves, 
although  they  could  hardly  have  been  held  in  less 
esteem  by  the  "truly  loyal''  than  the  average  Demo- 
crat in  that  latitude  who  never  went  South.  "We 
like  you  rebels  better  than  these  Democrats,"  Re- 
publicans would  say;  "for  you  fought  us  openly, 
while  they  kept  up  a  fire  in  the  rear,  and  there  was 
not  a  victory  won  by  you  that  they  did  not  rejoice 
at."  It  was  almost  certain  to  be  the  case  that  the 
person  saying  things  like  this  had  stayed  at  home 
during  the  war. 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  215 

Occasionally,  but  very  rarely,  a  native  Southerner 
was  encountered,  who  had  strayed  from  home  and 
was  pegging  away  at  some  business  in  that  land  of 
universal  industry.  One  of  these  was  the  drum- 
major  of  a  Hancock  club  at  the  second  place  at  which 
the  rebel  brigadier  spoke  in  Maine,  and  happened  to 
be  a  native  of  the  city  in  which  the  latter  lives,  and 
a  resident  there  until  a  few  years  ago.  Of  course, 
he  was  greatly  interested  in  making  the  meeting  a 
success,  and  among  those  whose  attendance  he  solic- 
ited was  an  intensely  bitter  Radical  who  lived  next 
to  him.  He  was  an  old  man,  and  had  all  the  preju- 
dices of  an  original  Abolitionist  against  Southerners 
generally,  and  a  pious  horror  of  rebels  in  particular. 
He  refused  to  go  to  the  meeting  at  first,  saying  that 
he  didn't  want  to  hear  any  rebel  speak;  but,  finally, 
upon  the  assurance  that  he  would  hear  nothing  offen- 
sive and  the  suggestion  that  he  ought  in  fairness  to 
hear  the  other  side,  and  prompted  doubtless  by  curi- 
osity, he  consented  to  go,  and  went.  The  next  morn- 
ing the  drum-major  found  him  at  work  in  his  gar- 
den, and,  asking  him  what  he  had  to  say  about  rhe 
meeting  and  what  objection  he  had  to  urge  against 
what  he  had  heard,  the  old  man  leaned  on  his  hoe, 
and  with  a  solemn  shake  of  his  head,  replied : 

"I  don't  know  what  to  say.  I  never  heard  a  rebel 
before,  and  I  expected  something  different,  entirely 
different.  That  man  seemed  to  be  honest,  and  if  the 
rest  of  'em  are  like  him  they  ain't  as  bad  as  I 
thought.  I've  felt  sorter  worried  ever  since  I  heard 
him.  I've  got  nothing  to  say  against  his  speech,  for 
he  talked  fair  and  square.  The  fact  is — well,  I  don't 
know,  I  don't  know,"  and  the  old  man  picked  up  his 
hoe  and  went  to  work  again. 


216  Some  Memokies  of  My  Life. 

The  Kennebec  River,  up  and  down  which  the  rebel 
brigadier  traveled  to  fill  some  appointments,  ought, 
perhaps,  to  have  excited  in  him  something  more  sen- 
timental than  it  did,  but,  unromantic  as  is  the  con- 
fession, the  thing  constantly  associated  with  it  in  his 
mind  was  the  first  bill  of  fare  he  ever  saw  when  a 
boy,  at  the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel  in  New  York,  upon 
which  was  printed,  ^^Boiled — Fresh  Kennebec  sal- 
mon, Anchovy  sauce."  The  memory  of  that  first 
taste  of  the  pink  fish  was  instantly  revived  when  the 
waters  of  the  stream  were  seen.  It  no  longer  yields 
salmon  as  it  used  to  do ;  indeed,  they  are  rather  rare 
there  now,  as  the  demand  for  them  exhausted  the 
stock  long  ago,  but  the  river  and  the  legend  on  the 
bill  of  fare  will,  probably,  always  remain  associated 
in  his  mind  together.  The  stream  now  contributes 
to  commerce  an  article  quite  as  palatable  and  much 
more  necessary  to  the  comfort  of  mankind  than  sal- 
mon, to-wit,  ice.  The  banks  are  lined  with  immense 
ice  houses,  some  of  which  have  a  capacity  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  tons.  The  blocks,  which  are  44  by  28 
inches  in  size,  are  packed  from  floor  almost  to  roof, 
one  layer  being  separated  from  another  by  small 
scantling,  and  well  covered  with  saw-dust  or  other 
such  material,  and  the  walls  are  double,  the  space 
between  them  being  filled  in  with  similar  stuff. 
Last  summer  blocks  of  ice  which  had  been  stored 
four  years  were  taken  out  of  one  of  the  houses  which 
the  rebel  brigadier  saw,  and  they  were  so  pure  and 
transparent  that  (as  he  was  told)  a  newspaper  could 
be  read  through  them  endwise.  The  manufacture  of 
lumber  is  another  active  industry,  and  the  machinery 
in  the  mills  has  been  brought  to  perfection.  From 
the  hauling  in  of  the  logs  to  their  last  transformation 


Alfked  Moore  Waddell.  217 

into  every  kind  of  manufactured  article,  every  pro- 
cess is  by  ingenious  machinery,  and  thus  the  number 
of  employes  required  is  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
And  here  again  there  is  absolutely  no  v^aste.  Every- 
thing is  utilized,  bark,  saw-dust  and  all.  There  are 
no  slabs  lying  around.  They  are  turned  into  bed 
slats  and  the  like,  and  so  it  is  with  all  the  butts  and 
odds  and  ends.  Whether  they  make  any  special  use 
of  the  knots  or  not,  and  if  not,  why  not,  the  rebel  brig- 
adier does  not  know,  and  did  not  ask  a  solution  of  the 
knotty  question.  He  apologizes,  however,  for  having 
accidentally  struck  upon  so  many  hard  words  in  one 
sentence,  though  the  reader  will  consider  it  a  happy 
accident,  as  it  serves  to  turn  the  direction  of  his  re- 
marks. But  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a  soft  subject  in 
Maine,  notwithstanding  the  large  number  of  Green- 
backers,  or  ^'soft  money"  men  in  the  State.  Perhaps 
the  hardest  things  in  that  region,  except  the  granite 
and  the  habitual  violators  of  the  prohibirory  law,  are 
the  names  of  places.  The  stranger  who  attempts  to 
pronounce  these  carelessly  is  in  imminent  danger  of 
breaking  his  jaw. 

Recently  an  able  "New  Englander  published  an  ar- 
ticle in  a  ISTorthern  review  to  prove  that  the  educa- 
tional system  prevailing  there,  and  which  is  regarded 
as  the  best  in  this  country,  could  not  be  cited  in  sup- 
port of  the  claim  that  popular  education  was  an  anti- 
dote to  crime,  and  he  produced  a  startling  array  of 
statistics  which  showed  that,  so  far  from  being  re- 
duced, the  ratio  of  crimes  of  all  sorts  had  steadily  in- 
creased. Of  course  it  would  be  silly  to  attribute  the 
increase  to  the  spread  of  education.  It  was  only  cited 
to  show  that  in  spite  of  education  crime  was  on  the 
increase. 


218  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

A  similar  state  of  facts  has  recently  been  developed 
in  connection  with  the  prohibitory  liquor  law  in 
Maine.  It  furnishes  no  argument  against  the  law, 
for,  as  in  the  other  case,  experience  would  contradict 
it;  but  it  is  a  curious  fact,  nevertheless,  that  in 
Maine,  while  the  population  between  1851  and  1880 
only  increased  14  per  cent,  the  percentage  of  increase 
in  crime  during  that  time  ranged  from  125  to  800 
per  cent,  and  the  total  average  of  increase  was  297 
per  cent.  Judge  Goddard,  who  recently  published  a 
letter  on  the  subject,  concludes  his  statement,  covering 
a  period  from  1840  to  1880,  with  this  sentence: 

'This  reveals  the  appalling  increase  of  forty-three 
fold  in  what  until  1876  was  capital  crime,  within 
forty  years.'' 

There  is,  after  all,  some  consolation  in  discovering 
that,  even  with  the  tremendous  addition  of  our  lately 
enfranchised  citizens,  ''the  ignorant  and  whiskey 
drinking  Southerner"  is  not  the  worst  man  in  the 
world. 

The  people  in  Maine  up  to  1851  hardly  knew  what 
a  suit  for  divorce  was.  Such  a  suit  was  an  exceed- 
ingly rare  proceeding.  Ex-Governor  Dingley  proved 
to  a  committee  of  the  Legislature  that  Maine  now 
leads  all  E'ew  England,  having  granted,  in  1878,  one 
divorce  for  every  679  men  and  women  in  the  State. 
Insanity  and  suicide  also  increased  in  a  ratio  far 
exceeding  the  gain  in  population.  During  all  this 
time  Maine  enjoyed  not  only  a  first  class  school  sys- 
tem, but  the  benefits  of  a  prohibitory  liquor  law  also, 
and  yet  64  per  cent  of  the  convicts  were  under  the 
age  of  30,  and  18  per  cent  of  them  under  21,  and 
nearly  all  (123  out  of  199)  were  born  in  Maine. 

Who  said  any  thing  about  glass  houses  ? 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  219 

1^0.  9. 

At  the  capital  city  of  Maine  (Augusta)  is  the  resi- 
dence of  the  present  Secretary  of  State,  James  G. 
Blaine,  who  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  men  in  pub- 
lic life.  As  a  parliamentarian  he  has  no  superior, 
and  as  presiding  officer  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives for  a  number  of  years  he  never  had  an  equal 
in  some  respects.  Adroit,  able,  audacious,  ready,  full 
of  resources,  and  as  quick  as  lightning,  he  wielded 
the  Speaker's  gavel  with  masterly  skilL  When,  as 
was  sometimes  the  case,  he  took  the  floor  for  de- 
bate, he  exhibited  these  qualities  with  even  greater 
success  and  adorned  them  with  wit  and  eloquence. 
He  is  preeminently  a  bright  man,  and  his  social  qual- 
ities are  very  fine.  To  these  latter  a  large  part  of  his 
great  personal  popularity  is  due,  for  it  is  well  known 
that  no  man  of  his  party  has  so  strong  a  hold  upon 
its  affections  as  he.  Possessed  of  an  impulsive  tem- 
perament there  is  a  broad  contrast  between  him  and 
such  men  as  Messrs.  Conkling  and  Edmunds,  who — 
though  perhaps  abler  in  reasoning  capacity,  and  cer- 
tainly as  constitutional  lawyers, — are  destitute  of  the 
personal  magnetism  which  has  caused  him  to  be  called 
the  Henry  Clay  of  his  party. 

It  is  the  habit  of  the  modern  American  to  be  an 
iconoclast.  In  his  view  George  Washington  was  quite 
a  respectable  sort  of  old  gentleman  considering  the 
period  in  which  he  lived,  and  the  other  men  of  the 
Revolution  are  charitably  allowed  to  have  done  rea- 
sonably well,  according  to  the  lights  before  them,  but 
he  esteems  the  men  of  that  era,  generally,  as  rather 
"small  potatoes."  There  are  only  three  names  in  the 
whole  history  of  tlje  country  which  seem  to  have  es- 
caped this  iconoclastic  disposition  of  the  modern 
American  mind.     Those  three  were  Clay,  Calhoun 


220  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

and  Webster.  They  are  still  regarded  as  typical  of 
three  distinct  orders  of  intellect  and  character,  as 
well  as  of  three  different  interpretations  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  none  who  have  succeeded  them  have 
approached  the  eminence  which  they  occupy  in  pop- 
ular estimation  as  great  American  statesmen.  Re- 
versing the  order  in  which  they  have  been  named 
above,  one  is  remembered  as  the  greatest  of  consti- 
tutional expounders  and  the  broadest  of  New  Eng- 
land statesmen;  another  as  the  most  perfect  embodi- 
ment of  pure  reason  and  the  possessor  of  the  most 
stainless  character  in  our  public  annals ;  and  the  third 
as  the  grandest  popular  leader  in  American  history. 
The  existence  of  such  a  triumvirate  in  our  politics  is 
no  longer  possible.  The  conditions  are  changed. 
Their  peers  may  now  be  living ;  but  if  so,  the  average 
growth  around  them  has  so  increased  as  to  render  the 
contrast  less  observable. 

Although  the  illustration  is  by  no  means  perfect, 
there  is  a  similarity  in  the  differences  between  those 
three  great  men  and  the  three  first  named.  These 
differences  are  as  marked  in  one  case  as  in  the  other, 
although  they  may  be  regarded  by  some  as  miniature 
likenesses.  Mr.  Blaine  is  more  like  Mr.  Clay  than 
Mr.  Edmunds  is  like  Mr.  Calhoun,  or  Mr.  Conkling 
like  Mr.  Webster,  but  the  characteristic  differences 
between  them  are  the  same.  The  power  of  analysis 
and  the  logical  acumen  which  so  distinguished  Mr. 
Calhoun  mark — though  in  less  degree — the  speeches 
of  Mr.  Edmunds,  but  he  lacks  entirely  the  enthusiasm 
which  enabled  Mr.  Calhoun  to  develop  his  severest 
logic  in  sentences  full  of  fire.  The  one  slowly  uncoils 
a  chain  of  ars^uraent  every  link  of  which  is  as  cold 
as  the  cable  of  an  Arctic  ship ;  the  other  used  to  reel 
his  off  rapidly  and  red  hot.     The  chief,  if  not  the 


Alfeed  Mooee  Waddell.  221 

only  points  of  intellectual  resemblance  between  Mr. 
Conkling  and  Mr.  Webster  may  be  said  to  be  the 
great  general  ability  in  debate  which  each  has  dis- 
played in  the  forum  or  at  the  bar,  and  the  masterful 
command  of  language  which  has  so  often  astonished 
the  hearers  of  each  when  in  the  full  exercise  of  his 
best  powers.  But,  as  Mr.  Webster's  ability  was  pro- 
founder,  so  the  fountain  from  which  poured  his  co- 
pious stream  of  pure  English  was  deeper  and  more 
limpidly  clear  than  that  from  which  Mr.  Conkling 
draws. 

If  these  comparisons  are  distasteful  to  those  of  a 
former  generation  in  the  South  who  admired  and  rev- 
erenced Webster  and  Calhoun,  that  other  larger  num- 
ber who  loved  and  almost  worshipped  Mr.  Clay  will 
still  less  relish  a  comparison  between  him  and  Mr. 
Blaine ;  and  yet,  as  has  been  already  said,  there  is 
much  more  room  for  comparison  between  them  than 
between  the  others. 

But  without  attempting  to  draw  the  contrast  fur- 
ther than  by  the  general  remark  that  he  is  ambitious 
but  prudent,  bold  but  conciliatory,  eloquent  but  emi- 
nently practical,  and  imperious  but  genial  and  gra- 
cious— as  Mr.  Clay  was, — we  will  only  add  that  Mr. 
Blaine  was  the  very  heart  and  brains  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  in  Maine  during  the  last  campaign,  and 
that,  although  defeated  by  a  small  majority,  that 
party  have  to  thank  him  more  than  all  others  that 
their  defeat  was  not  an  overwhelming  rout.  An  inde- 
fatigable laborer  when  work  is  necessary,  he  fairly 
exhausted  himself  by  his  constant  and  unremitting 
efforts  to  win  the  fight  upon  which  so  much  was  sup- 
posed to  depend.  When  that  fight  ended  the  future 
must  have  seemed  dark  indeed  to  him.  That  bright 
vision,  which  has  so  often  mocked  at  the  hopes  of  the 


222  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

ambitious  politician,  must  have  faded  almost  entirely 
from  his  sight,  for  the  result  seemed  to  portend  a  long 
lease  of  power  to  his  opponents.  He  sent  a  melan- 
choly dispatch  to  Garfield  announcing  the  probable 
result,  but  he  did  not  whine  out  any  hypocritical  re- 
gret for  the  poor  colored  man  as  Hayes  did  when  he 
was  beaten  for  the  presidency,  and  before  he  was  in- 
formed that  it  w^as  to  be  stolen  for  him.  It  is  quite 
safe  to  say  that  the  sorrows  of  the  colored  man  were 
not  uppermost  in  Mr.  Blaine's  thoughts  about  that 
time,  any  more  than  they  were  in  Mr.  Hayes's,  or 
would  have  been  in  Mr.  Garfield's  if  he  had  been  de- 
feated in  November.  But  the  October  elections  dissi- 
pated the  clouds  which  were  fast  gathering  around 
the  star  of  the  ambitious  Senator  from  Maine,  and 
in  the  ides  of  November  it  has  steadily  climbed  until 
it  now  shines  at  the  zenith. 

So  much  has  been  said  about  him  because  any  ac- 
count of  the  campaign  in  Maine  which  should  omit 
special  mention  of  him  as  the  ruling  spirit  of  his 
party  would  be  very  incomplete. 

On  the  5th  September,  and  while  passing  up  be- 
yond Augusta,  the  rebel  brigadier  observed  for  the 
first  time  a  marked  change  in  the  foliage  of  the  hill 
sides.  Nature  was  beffinninoj  to  robe  herself  in  fall 
colors,  and  the  different  shades  of  these  were  growing 
more  and  more  perceptible.  The  autumn  wind  had 
first  kissed  the  maples  and  they  were  blushing  scarlet, 
while  some  of  their  envious  neighbors  of  the  forest 
trembled  and  grew  pale,  and  others,  more  haughty, 
began  to  deck  themselves  with  gorgeous  raiment  and 
display  their  varied  charms.  At  their  feet  the  ferns 
were  fading  because  the  sun's  love  was  growing 
cold ;  high  up  the  slopes  the  slender  pines  sighed 
softly,  and  down  in  the  valley  the  Kennebec  went 


Alfred  Mooee  Waddell.  223 

grumbling  to  the  sea.  Each  day  added  new  splendors 
to  the  glorious  transfiguration  of  the  hillsides,  and 
wakened  a  deeper  tone  in  forest  and  stream.  And 
thus  the  silent  succession  of  the  seasons  was  painted 
in  glowing  colors  day  by  day  on  the  wide-stretching 
forests  of  the  Pine  Tree  State. 

The  beauties  of  nature,  however,  attracted  but  lit- 
tle attention  in  that  region  about  that  time.  It  was 
autumn  in  the  natural  world,  but  dog  days  in  politics. 
In  every  community  in  the  State,  almost,  the  voice  of 
the  stump  speaker  was  daily  heard,  and  every  night 
the  atmosphere  was  thick  with  the  smoke  of  burning 
torches  and  resonant  with  the  crash  of  drums  and 
musical  instruments.  Trains  and  steamboats  moved 
in  all  directions  loaded  with  political  clubs  going  to 
or  returning  from  mass  meetings.  Party  managers 
worked  like  beavers,  and  the  manufacturers  of  ban- 
ners, transparencies  and  badges  were  constantly  em- 
ployed. In  a  few  more  days  the  contest  would  be 
decided,  and  as  the  time  approached  for  its  conclusion 
the  tide  of  excitement  rose  higher  and  higher,  but 
there  were  no  breaches  of  the  peace  that  were  made 
public,  however  much  the  election  laws  may  have  been 
violated  in  secret ;  for  the  Maine  man  has  such  a  sen- 
sitive regard  for  the  proprieties  that  he  would  rather 
pay  something  than  have  a  fuss  at  the  polls,  and  those 
upon  whom  he  would  bestow  his  generosity  would 
rather  be  accommodating  and  accept  a  small  favor, 
than  to  engage  in  an  unseemly  wrangle  over  the 
small  matter  of  depositing  a  ballot. 

Returning  from  the  interior  of  the  State  the  rebel 
brigadier  filled  his  next  appointment  on  the  sea 
coast,  where  there  was  a  vast  crowd,  a  clam-bake,  and 
speeches,  with  an  account  of  which  these  papers  will 
probably  come  to  an  end. 


224  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

No.  10. 

Mention  has  been  made  in  a  previous  article  of  a 
Shaker  friend  of  the  rebel  brigadier,  who  sat  at  the 
same  table  at  the  Fabyan  House  in  the  White  Moun- 
tains, and  responded  in  a  characteristic  way  to  a  re- 
mark addressed  to  him  concerning  a  "loud"  female. 
The  rebel  brigadier  first  met  him  at  the  Memphrem- 
agog  House,  in  Northern  Vermont.  He  was  struck 
by  the  peculiar  dress  and  manner  of  the  man,  and 
observed  that  he  seemed  anxious  to  speak  to  him  as  he 
stood  near  him,  and  looked  at  him  in  a  longing  sort 
of  way  several  times.  At  last  he  entered  into  convej*- 
sation  and  informed  the  rebel  brigadier  that  he  had 
gone  with  the  crowd  the  night  before  over  to  North 
Troy  to  hear  him  speak,  and  was  very  much  inter- 
ested in  what  he  heard — that  he  took  no  part  in  poli- 
tics and  never  voted,  as  it  was  contrary  to  his  faith, 
but  he  liked  to  hear  both  sides  and  learn  all  he  could. 
He  asked  many  questions  about  the  South,  and  an- 
swered many  in  regard  to  the  fraternity  to  which  he 
belonged,  always  saying  "yea"  for  "yes"  and  "nay" 
for  "no."  The  rebel  brigadier  had  a  better  appre- 
ciation of  that  delightful  novel  "The  Undiscovered 
Country,"  which  W.  D.  Howells  gave  us  last  year, 
after  conversing  v/ith  this  member  of  the  quaint  so- 
ciety so  charmingly  described  therein.  He  listened 
to  the  Shaker's  simple  statement  of  the  cardinal  doc- 
trines of  celibacy  and  community  of  goods  which  they 
practice ;  the  former  according  to  the  example  of 
Christ  and  the  latter  after  the  manner  of  the  Apostles, 
and  recognized  such  expressions  as  "the  angelic  life" 
and  "being  gathered  in,"  so  often  used  in  some  of  the 
chapters  of  the  book  above  mentioned.  Accompany- 
ing these  peculiarities  there  was  a  sub-stratum  of 
shrewd  common  sense,  and  an  eager  but  suppressed 


Alfred  Moorb  Waddell.  225 

curiosity  in  regard  to  everything,  which  often  excited 
a  smile. 

The  Shaker  is  again  introduced  because  tlie  rebel 
brigadier  again  encountered  his  calm  gaze  in  a  Maine 
village  just  before  starting  to  make  his  last  speech 
in  that  State,  and  was  again  cordially  greeted  by  him 
and  invited  to  visit  the  friends  in  New  Hampshire 
when  passing  that  way. 

The  last  appointment  of  the  rebel  brigadier  (be- 
cause a  sudden  and  violent  change  in  the  w^eather  put 
an  end  to  the  canvass  immediately  afterward)  was 
anticipated  with  some  interest  because  it  was  on  the 
sea  coast  and  among  the  other  attractions  a  clam-bake 
was  announced  to  come  off.  Now  a  clam  was  a 
familiar  acquaintance  of  his.  He  had  often  hunted 
that  species  of  game  at  low  tide,  detecting  their  hid- 
ing places  in  the  barely-submerged  sand  by  their  hu- 
man habit  of  spitting — so  strangely  overlooked  by 
Darwin,  Herbert  Spencer  and  other  scientists,  when 
seeking  evidence  to  support  the  doctrine  of  evolution. 
He  had  used  them  for  fish-bait,  had  eaten  them  raw, 
stewed,  roasted,  in  soup,  chowder  and  fritters,  but 
had  never  seen  that  chef  d'oeuvve  of  New^  England 
culinary  skill,  an  old-fashioned  clam-bake,  or  tasted 
the  w^onderful  hotch-potch  which  that  term  signifies. 
Therefore  the  mass-meeting  was  an  interesting  event 
to  anticipate,  and  he  took  the  train  from  Portland  in 
excellent  humor. 

The  station  at  which  he  left  it  for  the  place  of 
meeting  was  ten  or  twelve  miles  from  the  coast,  and, 
the  roads  being  very  good,  he  expected  to  enjoy  a 
rapid  drive  to  the  ^'haven  where  he  would  be,"  but 
the  gentleman  with  whom  he  negotiated  for  trans- 
portation, although  very  nimble  in  that  transaction 
15 


226  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

and  in  hitching  up  a  rather  suspicious  looking  sorrel 
horse  to  a  sort  of  buck-board  wagon,  will  certainly 
never  be  indicted  for  fast  driving,  unless,  perhaps, 
he  gets  a  new  team  and  hears  of  a  good  bargain  in 
the  neighborhood. 

Discovering  that  he  was  too  strict  an  economist  to 
waste  the  energies  of  the  sorrel  in  rapid  travel,  but 
taking  it  for  granted  that,  like  most  New  England 
horses,  that  animal  had  a  plenty  of  ^^go"  in  him,  the 
rebel  brigadier,  after  toying  with  the  whip  a  moment, 
suddenly  and  vigorously  applied  it  where  he  thought 
it  would  do  the  most  good ;  but  alas !  without  the  least 
stimulating  effect  beyond  a  rather  pleased  switch  of 
the  tail.  He  thereupon  resigned  himself  to  the  inevi- 
table and  sought  refuge  in  conversation,  the  result  of 
which  afforded  some  compensation  for  the  otherwise 
dreariness  of  the  trip.  He  had  not  told  the  owner  of 
the  team  who  he  w^as,  or  where  he  lived,  but  had 
merely  engaged  passage  to  the  mass-meeting  in  a  very 
few  words.  The  journey  had  progressed  for  some 
time,  when  the  driver,  who  had  been  humming  a  low 
unmeaning  sort  of  air,  said : 

"I  thought  the  meetin'  down  here  was  last  night. 
E"ews  come  that  the  band  up  here  at  the  village  went 
down  yisterday,  and  it  looks  like  they  were  the  ones 
yonder  comin'  now,"  and,  looking  ahead,  the  rebel 
brigadier  saw  two  or  three  open  vehicles  containing 
men  in  uniform  approaching,  in  one  of  which  was  a 
bass  drum. 

^^I  reckon  that  was  a  Republican  meeting  last 
night,"  was  the  reply. 

The  driver,  raising  himself  from  a  lounging  posi- 
tion, ^ave  a  startled  look,  and  turned  a  little  pale,  but 
instantly  his  face  assumed  a  settled  expression,  and 
in  a  moment  afterward,  with  a  furtive  glance  at  the 
rebel  brigadier,  he  said: 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  227 

^^Yes ;  I  calculated  that  was  the  kind  o'  meetin'  you 
was  goin'  to." 

^^Oh,  no — I  am  going  to  a  Tusion'  meeting,  and 
I've  come  a  long  way  to  attend  it,  too,  all  the  way 
from  North  Carolina.  Yes,  I  am  a  Democrat — one 
of  those  rebel  brigadiers  you've  heard  of." 

The  effect  of  this  announcement  was  absolutely 
ludicrous.  It  was  like  the  shock  of  a  galvanic  bat- 
tery to  the  driver,  who  was  evidently  taken  completely 
by  surprise,  and  became  suddenly  inspired  with  a 
disposition  to  quicken  the  sorrel's  gait.  After  a  brief 
silence  the  rebel  brigadier  began  to  say  something 
about  the  solid  South,  when  his  companion  inter- 
rupted him  with : 

''Don't  let's  talk  politics ;  I  don't  know  much  about 
it." 

So  the  subject  was  changed,  and  they  jogged  along 
towards  the  beach. 

In  a  little  while  they  came  to  a  little  country  hotel, 
and  the  driver,  who  was  growing  more  restless,  said 
there  was  no  use  in  his  going  any  farther,  that  the 
people  in  the  hotel  would  take  the  rebel  brigadier  the 
short  distance  that  remained.  Being:  almost  in  siffht 
of  the  meeting  place,  the  proposition  was  assented  to, 
and  the  driver  was  released  from  his  sufferings  and 
dismissed. 

Nowhere  throughout  New  England  did  the  rebel 
brigadier  receive  such  an  enthusiastic  welcome  as  in 
that  little  hotel — a  welcome  the  more  agreeable  be- 
cause entirely  unexpected.  No  one  knew  him,  and 
he  knew  nobody  there,  but  as  soon  as  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  he  was  a  Southern  Democrat  and  ex-rebel, 
the  portly,  gray-haired  wife  of  the  proprietor  came 
in,  grasped  both  his  hands,  begged  him  to  place  his 
autograph  on  the  register,  sent  for  the  other  ladies 


228  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

of  the  house,  to  be  introduced,  told  him  she  would 
drive  him  to  the  meeting  herself;  and  seemed  really 
delighted  to  have  him  for  a  guest. 

A  drive  of  a  mile,  the  last  half  of  which  was 
through  an  old  farm,  brought  them  to  the  little  grove 
in  which  the  speakers'  stand  had  been  erected,  and 
where  several  thousand  people  were  gathering.  Tents 
and  booths  were  up  and  a  brisk  trade  was  going  on. 
The  place  was  very  near  to  and  in  full  view  of  the 
ocean,  and  was  in  the  midst  of  a  stretch  of  poor  land 
liberally  sprinkled  with  rocks.  Up  and  down  the 
coast  at  short  distances  were  hotels  and  farm  houses 
which  had  been  quite  liberally  patronized  by  summer 
visitors  during  the  hot  season,  but  were  now  com- 
paratively empty. 

Among  those  who  were  left  and  who  attended  the 
gathering  were  a  few  Southerners,  the  meeting  with 
whom  was  another  unexpected  pleasure. 

Greatly  to  the  disappointment  of  the  rebel  briga- 
dier the  clam-bake  did  not  come  off.  There  was  a 
plenty  of  clams  otherwise  cooked,  but  something  went 
wrong  about  the  other  ingredients  of  the  bake,  and 
that  interesting  process  was  abandoned. 

There  was  a  very  large  number  of  ladies  present, 
and  they  seemed  to  be  having  a  good  time.  The  crowd 
was  enthusiastic,  and  the  speaking  lasted  nearly  all 
day. 

The  only  drawback  to  the  perfect  success  of  the 
mass-meeting  was  a  northeast  wind,  which  began  to 
blow  before  the  speaking  was  over,  and  which  grew 
disagreeably  cool  as  the  afternoon  advanced,  but  the 
crowd  did  not  disperse  until  the  last  speaker  was 
through,  and  when  they  did  disperse  it  was  with  cheer 
after  cheer,  and  in  the  utmost  good  humor. 

But  while  everything  on   shore   seemed   cheerful 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  229 

and  rejoicing,  the  rebel  brigadier  thought  he  de- 
tected an  ominous  growl  in  the  voice  of  the  sea  as  it 
heaved  landward,  and  two  days  afterward  his  appre- 
hensions were  fully  realized.  Returning  the  next 
day  to  Portland,  before  going  to  his  next  appoint- 
ment, he  found  the  weather  growing  colder  and  more 
threatening,  and  in  a  few  hours  afterwards  a  drizzle 
set  in,  which,  in  a  little  while,  turned  into  a  small 
snow  storm.  This  was  not  down  in  the  program  of 
the  rebel  brigadier,  and,  not  wishing  to  subject  the 
committee  to  any  unnecessary  expense  in  the  way  of 
doctor's  bills  on  his  account,  he  reluctantly  notilied 
them  that  he  was  about  to  depart  for  a  somewhat 
more  genial  clime  and  would  not  stand  upon  the  order 
of  his  going,  but  would  go  at  once  and  somewhat  in 
a  hurry.  Whereupon  he  left  for  Boston,  and,  after 
spending  a  day  or  two  in  that  city,  where  he  was 
overtaken  by  some  of  his  returning  campaign  col- 
leagues, he  continued  his  journey  to  New  York, 
where  for  several  weeks  he  was  again  constantly  em- 
ployed in  what  turned  out  to  be  a  fruitless  under- 
taking. Whether  those  who  work  in  the  same  cause 
hereafter  will  ever  find  it  other  than  fruitless  seems 
to  be  doubtful,  but  after  some  experience  the  rebel 
brigadier  very  confidently  asserts  that,  unless  there 
shall  be  more  courage,  and  less  selfishness  in  those 
who  control  its  policy,  the  Democratic  party  will 
never  gain  the  ascendancy  in  national  affairs.  That 
it  may  profit  by  its  long  experience  of  defeat,  and 
pursue  such  a  course  during  the  next  four  years  as  to 
command  the  support  of  a  large  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple in  the  next  Presidential  election,  is  greatly  to  be 
desired,  but  hardly  to  be  hoped  for  at  present. 

The  rebel  brigadier  will  hail  every  sign  of  such  a 
result,  and,  hoping  for  it,  bids  farewell  to  his  readers. 


230  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Garfield — Boutwell  and  Jay — Wilmington  Revolution — Race 
Problem  Conference — Booker  Washington. 

During  the  campaign  of  1880  and  while  I  was  in 
New  York  some  excitement  was  created  hj  the  publi- 
cation of  a  letter  alleged  to  have  been  written  by  Gen- 
eral Garfield,  the  Republican  candidate  for  President, 
which  was  denounced  as  a  forgery  by  his  friends ;  and 
a  certain  "Tombs  lawyer"  who  was  showing  the  orig- 
inal of  the  letter  and  trying  to  get  from  acquaintances 
of  Garfield  the  opinion  that  the  signature  was  a  gen- 
uine one,  came  to  me  and  asked  if  I  would  not  express 
such  an  opinion,  to  which,  after  an  examination  of 
the  signature,  a  negative  reply  was  given  for  the 
reason  that  in  all  the  autographs  of  Garfield  that  had 
come  under  my  eye  (of  which  I  then  had  and  still 
have  one  or  more)  the  G  was  invariably  made  with 
a  straight  stem,  whereas  the  one  then  exhibited  was 
made  with  a  sweeping  curve.  Thereupon  the  Tombs 
lawyer  departed  in  disgust,  and  I  saw  recently  that 
the  same  individual  is  now  serving  a  term  in  the 
penitentiary  for  perjury.  Speaking  of  Garfield  re- 
minds me  that  the  last  time  I  ever  saw  him  was  in 
the  Capitol  building  when,  as  both  happened  to  be 
leaving  the  House  at  the  same  moment,  I  picked  up 
his  hat  to  try  on  and  it  went  dov^n  nearly  to  my  shoul- 
ders. I  expressed  surprise  and  asked  what  size  he 
wore.     He  said,  "a  number  8"  and  that  he  had  to 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  231 

have  them  made  to  order,  and  then  laughing  and  put- 
ting his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  added,  '^my  head  is  the 
same  size  as  Daniel  Webster's,  and  measures  twenty- 
four  inches  in  circumference."  Poor  fellow,  what  a 
tragic  end  was  his,  and  what  a  just  estimate  of  the 
value  and  stability  of  human  greatness  he  expressed 
on  his  death  bed,  when,  after  directing  a  message  of 
gratitude  to  be  sent  in  reply  to  the  Queen's  telegram 
of  sympathy,  he  said  that  though  he  lay  there,  the 
Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great  nation,  and  the  victim  of 
an  assassin's  bullet,  he  would  be  forgotten  in  three 
weeks  after  his  death  ! 

Even  after  that  campaign  had  ended  in  the  defeat 
of  Hancock,  the  sectional  animosity  of  some  of  the 
leaders  of  opinion  in  New  England  manifested  itself 
in  bitter  articles  containing  the  most  reckless  charges 
against  the  Southern  people.  Among  the  most  absurd 
and  extravagant  of  the  accusations  made  were  those 
published  in  The  North  American  Review  by  Hon. 
George  S.  Boutwell,  late  Senator  and  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  the  Hon.  John  Jay,  a  distinguished 
enemy  of  the  South.  They  seemed  to  me  to  demand 
notice,  and  in  January,  1881,  I  wrote  a  letter  to  The 
Boston  Glohe  in  reply  to  those  gentlemen,  which  was 
published  in  that  staunch  Democratic  newspaper  un- 
der flaming  headlines,  and  which,  as  illustrative  of 
the  difference  in  the  temper  and  spirit  of  the  accused 
and  their  accusers,  is  here  reproduced,  with  apologies 
for  its  length. 


232  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

To  the  Editor  of  The  Globe : 

The  attacks  which  have  been  made  upon  the  South- 
ern people  in  the  Northern  magazines  and  reviews  of 
late,  although  significant  of  a  deliberate  purpose  on 
the  part  of  the  extremely  radical  wing  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  have  gone  unanswered,  just  as  was  the 
case  in  the  congressional  debate  in  1875,  when  every 
expedient  was  resorted  to  to  goad  Southern  members 
into  an  angry  sectional  discussion,  which  was  pa- 
tiently and  persistently  declined ;  so  patiently,  indeed, 
as  to  force  from  a  Northern  newspaper  the  decla- 
ration that  ^'the  policy  of  silence  was  scarcely  ever 
more  heroically  pursued  or  more  grandly  effective 
as  a  rebuke  since  Pontius  Pilate  represented  Caesar 
in  Jerusalem."  The  reason  of  their  silence  is  not 
that  they  are  without  defence,  but  that  it  is  appar- 
ently useless  for  a  Southern  man  to  express  senti- 
ments of  loyalty  to  the  government,  or  of  kindly  re- 
gard for  the  people  of  the  North,  and  that  it  is  a 
waste  of  time  and  of  self-respect  for  him  to  act  in 
accordance  with  such  sentiments.  In  either  case  or 
both,  he  is  met  with  the  insulting  charge  of  base  in- 
sincerity or  mean  motive  by  those  who  control  public 
affairs.  Among  these  there  is  a  great  cry  about  lib- 
erty and  equal  political  rights  for  all,  and  yet  they 
esteem  it  little  less  than  a  crime  in  a  fellow-citizen  of 
equal  intelligence  and  character  with  themselves  to 
exercise  his  freedom  by  voting  the  Democratic  ticket, 
whether  he  lives  in  the  South  and  was  a  rebel,  or  re- 
sides in  the  North  and  was  loyal. 

The  insolence  and  arrogance  of  the  Republican 
leaders  towards  the  millions  of  Democrats  of  the 
North,  whom  they  denounce  as  "rebel  sympathizers," 
even  though  they  be  maimed  soldiers  of  the  Union, 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  233 

is  refreshing  to  witness.  The  writer  has  often  seen 
exhibitions  of  this  kind  from  Republicans  who  stayed 
at  home  during  the  war  towards  Democrats  who  had 
fought  and  bled  for  the  Union,  and  he  could  only  ex- 
press astonishment  at  the  forbearance  of  the  latter. 
They  may  possess  every  other  virtue  and  be  qualified 
in  every  other  respect  to  merit  the  esteem  of  their 
countrymen,  even  to  the  crowning  honor  of  having 
fought  with  the  rebel  beasts  at  more  than  one  Ephe- 
sus,  but  if  they  have  not  the  one  indispensable  title- 
deed,  a  certificate  of  registration  as  a  Republican 
voter,  they  are  mere  trespassers  upon  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints,  to  be  ejected  with  or  without  legal  pro- 
cess as  the  case  may  reouire.  Even  a  rebel,  however, 
is  transformed,  as  if  by  magic,  when  he  is  seen  ap- 
proaching the  polls  with  a  Republican  ballot  in  his 
hands;  all  his  political  sins  are  forgiven  and  he  is 
welcomed  to  a  seat  around  the  flesh-pots.  Naught 
else  can  make  him  worthy  of  the  least  consideration. 
'No  amount  of  fidelity  to  his  obligations  as  a  citizen, 
and  no  degree  of  uprightness  in  his  walk  and  conver- 
sation as  a  man,  can  secure  for  him  the  confidence  of 
these  his  Northern  countrymen,  or  shield  him  from 
their  sneers  and  condemnation.  Facts  are  of  no  value 
in  his  vindication,  and  the  elemental  principles  of 
human  nature  are  ignored  in  his  treatment.  There- 
fore he  has  ceased  to  appeal  to  the  former  for  his  de- 
fence, and,  knowing  his  own  integrity,  he  turns  with 
growing  indifference  away  from  national  politics,  and 
seeks  to  build  up  the  material  fortunes  of  his  section. 
In  the  face  of  the  fact  that  all  the  Southern  States 
have  years  ago,  openly  and  by  the  most  solemn  acts 
of  constitutional  conventions,  and  otherwise,  formally 
and  forever  renounced  the  doctrine  of  secession,  they 


234  Some  Memoeies  of  My  Life. 

are  still  charged,  not  merely  in  the  columns  of  party 
newspapers,  but  in  such  periodicals  as  The  North 
American  Review,  by  writers  of  established  reputa- 
tion, with  a  determination  not  to  surrender  that  doc 
trine,  but  to  cherish  it  in  secret  until  they  may  again 
practically  assert  it.  Notwithstanding  there  has  been 
no  instance  of  resistance  to  the  government  in  all  the 
vast  territory  of  the  South  since  the  people  laid  down 
their  arms  and  renewed  their  allegiance,  they  are  ac- 
cused of  nursing  a  rebellious  spirit  w^ith  a  fixed  reso- 
lution to  make  war  on  the  government  as  soon  as  the 
opportunity  presents  itself  to  do  so.  Despite  the  num- 
berless protestations  and  votes  and  acts  of  good  faith 
given  in  Congress,  in  State  legislatures,  in  the  courts, 
in  the  press,  in  business  conventions  and  in  private 
social  intercourse,  they  are  held  as  enemies  to  the  gov- 
ernment, to  liberty  and  to  human  progress.  Although 
these  are  the  only  States  in  the  Union  where  negroes 
hold  offices  of  trust  and  profit  and  wield  a  large  in- 
fluence in  public  affairs,  they  are  denounced  as  the 
only  States  where  they  are  denied  all  rights  and  priv- 
ileges. If  a  crime  is  committed  in  their  territory  and 
a  Republican  is  the  victim,  it  is  at  once,  without  in- 
vestigation, attributed  to  a  political  motive  and 
charged  to  the  whole  community.  If  a  fool  or  a  reck- 
less man  utters  nonsense  or  disunion  sentiments,  not 
only  he  and  the  community  and  the  State  in  which 
he  lives,  but  the  people  of  the  whole  South,  from 
Maryland  to  Mexico,  are  saddled  with  the  responsi- 
bility, and  held  up  as  turbulent  semi-barbarians  be- 
fore the  gaze  of  the  world;  if  an  honest  man  under- 
takes to  vindicate  them,  he  is — if  a  white  man — de- 
nounced as  an  interested  liar,  and — if  a  negro — as  a 
bribed  one ;  and  no  character,  however  blameless  or 
however  distinguished,  can  escape  this  judgment,  even 


Alfked  Mooke  Waddell.  235 

when  receiving  courtesy  and  Iiospitality  at  the  hands 
of  his  judges. 

Still,  ''the  Xorth  has  no  animosity  towards  thj 
South'' — certainly  not;  and  it  is  an  evidence  of  the 
unreasoning  and  violent  character  of  the  Southern 
people  that  they  should  entertain  any  such  absurd  no- 
tion.  The  North  is  animated  solely  by  motives  of 
benevolence,  and  these  are  so  strong  that  the  incoming 
administration  is  publicly  urged  to  perform  a  plain 
constitutional  duty  by  guaranteeing  to  each  Southern 
State  ''a  Eepublican  form  of  government!"  Mr. 
Boutwell  is  so  anxious  to  secure  this  inestimable  bless- 
ing to  the  Southern  people  that  he  proclaims  it  to  be 
the  duty  of  the  Republican  party  (which  he  regards 
as  the  government)  ''to  extort  from  the  Constitution'' 
the  power  necessary  to  secure  it.  There  is  hardly  any 
necessity  to  handle  that  poor  old  parchment  with  such 
violence. 

It  is  much  easier  to  pursue  the  usual  Eepublican 
method  in  cases  of  party  emergency  and  ignore  it  al- 
together, although  the  one  process  might  be  pursued 
with  as  much  safety  as  the  other,  seeing  how  few  are 
its  friends.  Mr.  Boutwell  is  fairly  entitled  to  such 
credit  as  may  attach  to  a  statesman  who  frankly,  if 
not  wisely,  sets  out  his  plan  of  revolution  in  advance 
of  the  accession  of  his  party  to  absolute  power.  There 
is  a  candor  and  directness  in  his  method  which  leaves 
no  room  for  doubt  as  to  what  he  would  do  if  intrusted 
with  the  reins  of  government.  There  is  an  easy  con- 
fidence, too,  in  his  assertions  of  fact  touching  the  con- 
ditions of  affairs  in  the  South  which  evinces  an 
amount  and  accuracy  of  information  never  vouch- 
saied  to  the  slow  and  painstaking  investigator,  but 
only  to  those  who  scorn  such  aids  to  judgment.  He 
candidly  admits  that  his  party  is  a  sectional  party, 


236  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

but  asserts  that  "the  circumstance  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  in  the  South  the  Republican  forces  are  in  a  state 
of  duress,  and  their  voice  is  nowhere  heard,  nor  is 
their  power  anywhere  felt."  He  very  kindly  prom- 
ises, however,  that  "when  there  shall  be  freedom  of 
speech,  of  the  press  and  of  the  ballot,  the  Republican 
party  will  exert  every  constitutional  power  for  the 
renovation  of  the  waste  places  of  the  South."  While 
the  generosity  of  this  proposition  is  highly  appre- 
ciated, there  seems  to  be  some  uncertainty  as  to  when 
such  a  promise  would  fall  due ;  for  as  to  nine-tenths 
at  least  of  the  Southern  States  the  condition  prece- 
dent is  already  performed,  and  moreover,  if  the  exer- 
tions of  the  Republican  party  in  the  direction  indi- 
cated should  prove  to  be  such  as  they  have  heretofore 
made  in  the  same  direction  there  would  be  a  total 
failure  of  consideration  on  their  side  of  the  bargain. 
Indeed,  the  South  would  pay  much  more  than  Mr. 
Boutwell  demands  not  to  have  their  waste  places 
"renovated"  by  the  Republican  party. 

Mr.  John  Jay,  Clarum  et  venerahile  nomen,  has 
also  favored  the  public,  through  the  columns  of  the 
Review,  with  a  discussion  of  "Southern  Statesmen 
and  their  Policy,"  wdiich  is  characterized  by  the  same 
general,  sweeping  charges,  and  the  same  unfamili- 
arity  with  the  facts  which  marked  Mr.  Boutwell's  es- 
say. There  would  be  no  injustice  in  applying  a  dif- 
ferent term  to  the  relation  between  Mr.  Jay  and  the 
facts  which  he  discusses  from  that  which  has  just 
been  applied  to  it — unf amiliarity ;  but  certainly  that 
very  mild  phrase  can  not  be  objected  to,  as  it  has  not 
yet  been  adjudged  treasonable  to  doubt  the  perfect 
knowledge  of  a  I^orthern  essayist  on  the  subject  of 
Southern  affairs,  particularly  if  such  essayist  goes  so 
wide  of  the  mark  as  to  class  a  distinguished  Repub- 


Alfred  Mooke  Waddell.  237 

lican  cabinet  officer  from  Iowa  among  the  "prominent 
"Southrons"  who  had  renounced  State  sovereignty. 
Both  Mr.  Boutwell  and  Mr.  Jay  stand  before  their 
readers  in  the  unenviable  attitude  of  bitter  partisans 
who,  under  the  guise  of  anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  the 
Union,  and  especially  of  the  negro  race,  seek  to  keep 
alive  in  the  hearts  of  a  new  generation  the  distrusts, 
antagonisms  and  hates  of  a  past  era  which  sprang  out 
of  circumstances  forever  passed  away  and  impossible 
of  revival,  and  all  for  the  purpose,  as  Mr.  Boutwell 
boldly  proclaim,^,  of  preserving  and  guarding  "the 
industries  of  the  ^orth.'^  The  "solid  South,"  says 
Mr.  Boutwell,  must  be  broken  if  from  no  "higher  mo- 
tive than  that  of  self-interest,"  and  in  order  to  accom- 
plish this  the  Bepublican  party  must  pursue  "a  deter- 
mined, bold,  aggressive"  policy  towards  that  section. 
Mr.  Jay,  too,  joins  in  the  cry,  and  demands  of  the 
new  administration  that  they  shall  "disable  if  they 
can  not  utterly  destroy  the  monster.  State  sovereign- 
ty." Considering  the  notorious  fact  that  this  "mon- 
ster" was  killed  nearly  fifteen  years  ago,  and  buried 
by  the  hands  of  the  Southern  people  themselves,  be- 
yond any  possible  hope  of  resurrection,  and  that  not 
one  single  human  being  in  all  the  South  has,  from 
that  day  to  this,  ever  attempted  or  expressed  the  least 
desire  to  revive  it,  this  invocation  of  destructive  wrath 
does  not  seem  to  be  imperatively  demanded  by  any 
pressing  exigency  of  the  Union  at  this  particular  junc- 
ture. 

The  terms  "State  Sovereignty"  and  "State  Bights" 
are  being  juggled  with  for  the  purpose  of  deception. 
That  a  State  is  sovereign  against  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  not  even  the  original  secessionists  now 
claim — indeed,  the  term  State  sovereignty  is  an  abuse 
of  words  and  is  rarely  used  in  the  South,  even  in  a 


238  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

qualified  sense ;  but  that  the  States  have  "rights," 
guaranteed  to  them  as  political  communities  by  the 
Constitution,  not  even  such  statesmen  as  Messrs. 
Boutwell  and  Jay  would  deny.  To  distort  every  allu- 
sion by  Southerners  to  those  recognized  rights  into  a 
claim  of  sovereignty  for  the  States,  and,  to  that  ex- 
tent, of  the  right  of  secession ;  and  this,  too,  after  all 
their  acts  and  pledges  to  the  contrary,  is  a  process 
which  may  appear  just  and  fair  and  honorable  to  the 
more  highly  educated  intellect  and  conscience  of  those 
who  guard  "the  industries  of  the  North ;"  but  the  rest 
of  the  w^orld  will  take  a  different  view  of  it.  And 
so  Mr.  Jay's  assertion  that  "the  Southern  leaders  of 
opinion"  still  cling  to  the  faith  "that  the  right  to  en- 
slave the  negro  is  the  most  sacred  of  all  liberties," 
may  be  effectual  in  causing  those  leaders  of  opinion 
and  their  followers  to  be  hated  and  despised  at  the 
North,  but  it  does  not  reflect  much  credit  upon  Mr. 
Jay's  skill  in  imparting  accurate  information  to  the 
public.  As  a  rhetorical  flourish,  it  might  win  ap- 
plause if  uttered  by  Cadet  Whitaker ;  but  as  a  state- 
ment of  fact,  affecting  the  character  of  the  Southern 
people,  it  is  not  entitled  to  especial  reverence.  There 
is  a  grandiose  style  in  vogue  among  a  certain  class  of 
Republican  statesmen  and  writers  for  the  periodical 
press  when  the  South  is  the  subject  of  their  lucubra- 
tions, and  Messrs.  Boutwell  and  Jay  have  very  well 
illustrated  it  in  their  respective  articles  in  The  North 
American  Review  for  December. 

There  is  one  passage,  however,  in  Mr.  Jay's  article 
which,  if  it  was  not  intended  for  humor,  is  startling 
in  what  it  suggests.  Speaking  of  the  Southerners 
who  spoke  at  the  great  mass  meetings  in  New  York 
last  summer,  he  says: 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  239 

''Mr.  Carroll  alluded  to  the  138  votes  solid  against 
the  Republican  party  in  a  tone  which  seemed  to  inti- 
mate that  thej  intended  to  claim  these  votes  as  valid, 
and  that  they  really  expected  that  the  Eepublicans 
would  recognize  them  as  valid,  etc." 

What  does  Mr.  Jay  mean  by  the  last  sentence? 
Is  it  possible  that  the  Republicans  had  determined 
to  rebel  if  Hancock  had  been  declared  elected  ? 

They  could  not  have  counted  him  out,  because  they 
are  in  a  minority  in  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  if 
they  could  not  do  that,  then  Mr.  Jay's  intimation  that 
they  would  not  recognize  the  Southern  vote  as  valid 
was  either  mere  hrutum  fulmen  or  evidence  of  a  trea- 
sonable conspiracy  amongst  them.  That  Mr.  Jay  could 
have  perpetrated  a  little  fun  is  quite  possible;  that 
he  would  have  seriously  committed  to  the  press  a  post 
factum  declaration  or  intimation  involving  a  mere 
empty  boast  is  hardly  credible,  but  to  admit  for  one 
moment  the  supposition  of  a  treasonable  purpose  on 
the  part  of  the  sole  depository  of  all  the  loyalty  in 
the  land  is  too  awful  to  contemplate.  Mr.  Jay's 
theme  is  ''Southern  Statesmen  and  Their  Policy," 
but  the  latter  part  of  his  essay  is  devoted  to  "the  mis- 
creants" who  resorted  to  calumny  and  finally  to  for- 
gery during  the  canvass,  and  to  John  Kelley  and  the 
Pope  of  Rome.  What  connection  exists  between  all 
or  any  of  these  persons  and  the  policy  of  Southern 
statesmen  does  not  appear. 

!N"ow,  if  Mr.  Jay,  instead  of  sounding  an  alarm 
about  the  wicked  deeds  and  more  wicked  intentions 
of  Southerners,  will  only  be  charitable  enough  to 
judge  them,  not  by  the  fragmentary  utterances  at- 
tributed to  a  few  men,  and  which  do  not  always  nec- 
essarily bear  the  construction  placed  upon  them,  but 


240  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

by  the  general  conduct  and  sentiment  of  the  people 
and  their  representatives,  he  will  find  any  fears  which 
he  may  honestly  entertain  as  to  their  disposition,  to 
be  without  any  solid  foundation.  He  may  rest  as- 
sured that  there  is,  in  the  first  place,  no  policy  what- 
ever among  the  Southern  people  iu  regard  to  acquir- 
ing a  controlling  influence  in  the  general  government. 
They  not  only  have  no  established  policy  on  the  sub- 
ject, but  they  do  not  for  a  moment  consider  the  possi- 
bility of  such  a  contingency,  and  they  are  loth  to  be- 
lieve that  there  is  any  sincerity  whatever  in  the  appro- 
hensions  expressed  by  Northern  men  in  regard  to  it, 
because  such  apprehensions  are  admissions  of  a  want 
of  sufficient  sagacity  and  courage  on  the  part  of  the 
Northern  people  for  the  preservation  of  their  own 
interests. 

The  solid  South,  which  Mr.  Jay  says  "repelled  the 
last-cherished  hope  of  a  reviving  loyalty,  and  pre- 
sented for  the  judgment  of  the  nation  the  views  and 
aims  of  the  Southern  leaders,''  has  no  connection  with 
loyalty  one  way  or  another,  unless  loyalty  means  ad- 
herence to  the  Republican  party,  which  Mr.  Jay 
seems  to  think  is  the  case,  inasmuch  as  he  subse- 
quently speaks  of  the  138  votes  "solid  against  the  Re- 
publican party."  Although  he  charges  the  Southern 
speakers  who  went  North  with  avoiding  the  discussion 
of  this  and  kindred  questions,  it  is  evident  that  he 
was  speaking  unadvisedly,  for  those  were  the  precise 
subjects  upon  which  they  chiefly  dwelt,  and  he  could 
have  heard  then,  as  he  can  hear  now,  a  very  general 
expression  of  regret  among  Southerners  at  the  neces- 
sity which  forced  the  South  to  be  solid  in  favor  of 
any  particular  party.  There  was  no  concert  of  action 
between  the  States.     Each  desired  for  itself  the  con- 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  241 

trol  of  its  own  local  governments,  and  all  having  been 
robbed  by  the  Republican  party  while  under  its  con- 
trol, there  was  the  same  feeling  in  all  against  the  re- 
turn of  that  party  to  power.  The  instinct  of  self- 
preservation  made  the  solid  South,  and  nothing  in- 
volving the  loyalty  of  the  people  had  anything  to  do 
with  it. 

The  only  policy  the  South  has  fixed  its  heart  upon 
is  such  an  one  as  will  increase  its  material  wealth, 
and  thus  enable  it  to  enlarge  its  facilities  for  com- 
merce and  popular  education;  and  its  highest  aspira- 
tions in  connection  with  national  affairs  is  to  receive 
just  treatment  from  the  North,  and,  while  discharg- 
ing faithfully  its  obligations,  to  live  in  peace  and 
friendship  wdth  every  section  of  the  Union. 

Inspired  by  such  sentiments  the  South  can  imitate 
the  conduct  of  the  illustrious  man  whose  honored 
name  Mr.  Jay  bears,  when,  being  maligned,  insulted 
and  treated  with  gross  injustice  by  a  large  portion 
of  his  countrymen  because  of  the  treaty  which  he 
negotiated  with  Great  Britain,  he  refused  to  yield 
to  a  just  resentment,  but  practicing  a  sweet  charity 
and  preserving  a  sublime  self-respect,  he  calmly  and 
patiently  awaited  the  inevitable  return  of  their  better 
judgment  for  his  vindication.  And  the  South  cher- 
ishes the  hope  that,  as  in  his  case,  the  vindication  will 
speedily  come,  and  that  those  who  now  seek  to  per- 
petuate among  the  l^orthern  people  an  inimical  and 
unforgiving  spirit  towards  their  countrymen  will  find 
their  labors  fruitless  and  will  realize  with  shame  that 
they  are  not  in  harmony  with  the  age  in  which  and 
the  people  among  whom  they  live. 

A.  M.  Waddell. 

Wilmington,  K  C,  January,  1881. 

16 


242  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

The  next  ten  years  were  uneventful  to  me,  being 
passed  in  the  quiet  pursuit  of  my  profession,  except 
about  a  year  (1882-3)  during  which  I  edited  a  news- 
paper in  Charlotte,  and  except  the  time  wasted  in 
canvassing  the  State  from  one  end  to  the  other  as 
elector  at  large  for  Cleveland  and  Thurman  in  1888. 
My  residence  in  Charlotte  was  a  very  pleasant  epi- 
sode in  my  life,  for  unfailing  courtesy  and  kindness 
on  the  part  of  the  people  of  that  historic  town  was 
extended  to  me  while  living  among  them,  and  the 
memory  of  it  abides  with  me.  Charlotte  has  grown 
tremendously  since  then  in  population,  wealth,  and 
industrial  development,  and  is  destined  to  become  one 
of  the  leading  cities  of  the  South  and  an  industrial 
centre  of  great  importance. 

The  year  1898  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of 
North  Carolina  and  especially  of  the  City  of  Wil- 
mington. Long  continued  evils  borne  by  the  com- 
munity with  a  patience  that  seems  incredible,  and 
which  it  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  describe,  culmi- 
nated on  the  10th  day  of  November  in  a  radical  revo- 
lution accompanied  by  bloodshed  and  a  thorough  reor- 
ganization of  social  and  political  conditions.  It  is 
commonly  referred  to  as  the  Wilmington  riot,  and 
legally  and  technically  it  may  be  properly  so  termed, 
but  not  in  the  usual  sense  of  disorderly  mob  violence, 
for,  as  was  said  by  an  army  officer  who  was  present 
and  witnessed  it,  it  was  the  quietest  and  most  orderly 
riot  he  had  ever  seen  or  heard  of.     A  negro  printing 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  243 

oiMce  was  destroyed  by  a  procession  of  perfectly  sober 
men,  but  no  person  was  injured  until  a  negro  delib- 
erately and  without  provocation  shot  a  white  man, 
while  others,  armed  and  defiant,  occupied  the  streets, 
and  the  result  was  that  about  twenty  of  them  were 
killed  and  the  rest  of  them  were  scattered. 

The  history  of  that  event,  as  was  to  have  been  ex- 
pected, was  grossly  misrepresented  by  that  element  of 
the  press  and  the  people  in  the  Northern  States  who 
were  ever  ready  to  condemn  the  white  man  and  sym- 
pathize with  the  negro  in  the  South;  but  the  great 
majority  of  the  people  in  all  parts  of  the  country  jus- 
tified the  movement — if  not  by  expressed  approval  at 
least  by  abstaining  from  any  condemnation  of  it,  and 
a  very  convincing  evidence  of  the  spirit  in  which  it 
was  regarded  by  the  Federal  authorities  was  given  by 
their  silence  and  inaction  concerning  it.  That  it  set 
the  pace  for  the  whole  South  on  the  question  of  white 
supremacy,  and  assured  beyond  further  controversy 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitutional  amendment  in  re- 
gard to  negro  suffrage  in  the  State  admits  of  no  doubt. 
It  constituted  an  interesting  chapter  of  the  public  his- 
tory of  the  country,  and  therefore  I  will  not  enlarge 
upon  it  further  than  to  say  that  it  was  the  spontane- 
ous and  unanimous  act  of  all  the  white  people  and  was 
prompted  solely  by  an  overwhelming  sense  of  its  abso- 
lute necessity  in  behalf  of  civilization  and  decency. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  of  this  revolution  the 
Mayor  and  Board  of  Aldermen,  then  in  charge  of  the 
city  of  Wilmington,  one  by  one  resigned  and  in  the 


244  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

same  order  their  successors  were  nominated  and  elect- 
ed. 

About  a  year  and  a  half  after  the  Wilmington  rev- 
olution, that  is  in  May,  1900,  the  first  annual  confer- 
ence (and  the  last)  of  the  ^^Southern  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  the  Study  of  Race  Conditions  and 
Problems  in  the  South"  was  held  in  Montgomery, 
Ala.,  and  I  was  invited  to  open  the  discussion  by  a 
speech  on  the  franchise  as  a  part  of  the  problem,  the 
reason  being  that  our  recent  experiences  in  l^orth 
Carolina  where  the  election  on  a  constitutional  amend- 
ment was  pending,  justified  the  selection  of  one  from 
our  State  to  discuss  the  subject.  I  accepted  the  invi- 
tation, and  testified  to  facts  and  events  that  came  un- 
der my  own  observation,  and  expressed  the  decided 
conviction  that  justice,  experience  and  common  sense 
alike  demanded  the  repeal  of  the  15th  Amendment 
to  the  United  States  Constitution.  The  confer- 
ence lasted  for  three  days  wdth  discussion  twice  a 
day  by  many  distinguished  speakers,  the  last  of 
whom,  Hon.  W.  Bourke  Cockran,  of  New  York,  also 
expressed  the  view  that  the  15th  Amendment  should 
be  repealed  as  the  only  remedy  for  existing  evils. 

During  the  sessions  of  that  conference  the  most  dis- 
tinguished negro  in  America  Booker  Washington, 
was  a  spectator  and  an  attentive  listener  to  the  discus- 
sions, and  during  a  recess,  while  I  was  being  enter- 
tained in  the  office  of  The  Montgomery  Advertiser,  he 
entered  the  building,  and  was  called  into  the  office  at 
the  suggestion  of  the     associate  editor,     Col.  Mike 


Alfred  Moore  Waddell.  245 

Woods,  to  be  introduced  to  me,  as  I  had  never  seen 
him. 

Upon  the  exchange  of  salutations  I  expressed  great 
surprise,  saying  that  I  had  expected  to  meet  a  negro, 
but  that  he  was  a  much  fairer-colored  man  than  Fred- 
erick Douglass,  and  in  fact  was  about  three-fifths 
white,  which  explained  to  me  his  history  and  corrob- 
orated the  historical  evidence  that  no  pure  blooded  ne- 
gro had  ever  attained  greatness,  although  Toussaint 
UOuverture,  of  Hayti,  came  near  it;  whereupon  he 
said  that  Toussaint  was  a  mulatto  according  to  his 
recollection — which  of  course,  as  I  remarked, 
strengthened  the  evidence.  He  thereupon,  with 
ready  wit,  and  a  laugh  asked  me  if  I  was  willing  to 
recognize  him  as  belonging  to  the  white  race,  to 
which  I  replied  that  we  were  not  discussing  that  ques- 
tion, but  that  I  was  glad  to  make  his  acquaintance, 
and  to  recognize  the  great  work  he  was  doing  for  the 
industrial  and  moral  education  of  the  negroes. 

It  has  been  my  fortune  to  hold  the  office  of  Mayor 
of  Wilmington  during  more  than  six  of  the  nine 
years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  so-called  race  riot  of 
November  10th,  1898,  and  it  is  comforting  to  reflect 
that  while  occupying  that  position  the  old  town  suf- 
fered no  calamity  and  moved  steadily  and  rapidly 
along  the  path  of  peace  and  progress.  Its  people 
have  honored  me  in  many  ways  through  many  years, 
as  they  did  my  forefathers  in  the  olden  time,  and  it 
would  be  strange  indeed  and  most  unnatural  if  I  were 
not  bound  by  stronger  ties  to  them  than  to  any  other 


246  Some  Memories  of  My  Life. 

people  on  earth.  And  this  is  the  more  freely  said 
now  that  the  cynic's  definition  of  gratitude,  viz:  "a 
lively  sense  of  favors  expected"  can  not  be  applied  to 
one  who  has  passed  the  mile  stone  on  life's  journey 
on  which  is  inscribed  three  score  years  and  ten.  As  at 
the  beginning  of  these  Memories  I  invoked  the  bless- 
ing of  Heaven  on  my  native  village  of  Hillsborough, 
so  in  concluding  them  I  pray  that  it  may  perpetually 
rest  upon  this  historic  city  of  Wilmington,  the  home 
of  my  manhood  and  declining  years,  and  the  pride  of 
a  brave  and  noble  people. 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Accident,  railroad 55 

Abel,  "Uncle"  10 

Alamance    13 

America  before  Columbus. .   121 

Anderson  (pilot)  85 

Atkins,  Hiram 189 

"Aunt"    10 

Ashe,  Capt.  S.  A 98, 157 

Badger,  Hon.  Geo.  E 19,  24 

Bailey,  Judge   28 

Banks,  Gen.  N.  P 116 

Bar,  Hillsboro 19 

Battle,  Judge 28 

Battle,  Dr.  K.  P 24 

Beck,  Hon.  J.  B. . .   104, 112, 115 

Benton,  Hon.  T.  H 8 

Benton,  Peter 12 

•     Ben  Bolt 12 

Bell  and  Everett 46,  51 

Bill,  "Universal" 22 

Bingham,  John 18 

Bingham  School 17 

Black,  Hon.  J.  S 134 

Brown,  John  Young 114 

Boutwell,  Hon.  Geo.  S 231 

Blaine,  J.  G.. .  104,  111,  129,  209 

Blockade 74 

Boudinot   123 

Boundary  House 137 

Bragg,  Governor   46 

Breckenridge 40 

Brigadier  rebel  157 

Bull,  Ole 94,  95 

Burke,  Governor 9 

Burr,  Col.  J.  G 47 

Burr,  Alba 48 

Busbee,  Perrin 19 

Butler,  B.  F 112 

Buchanan,  President 40,  50 

Burwell  School 17 


PAGE. 

Calhoun,  Hon.  J.  C 220,  221 

Caldwell  Institute 18 

Camden  and  Amboy 30 

Campbell — Pleasures  of  Hope,27 

Cannon,  J.  G 135 

Cannon,  Geo.  Q 107 

Carpet  Bagger  Sheriff 180 

Castle  Garden 31 

Conkling,  Hon.  R 220,  221 

Celeste,  Steamer   85 

Centennial  (Phil.)  meetings,  128 

Centennial  oration   25 

Cockran,  Bourke   227 

Coincidences 73 

Committee  on  P.  0 135 

Congressional  experiences.   103 

Cox,  S.  S 121,133 

Croton  Reservoir 31 

Crystal  Palace   31 

Curtis,  Rev.  M.  A 15 

Davis,  Plon.  Geo 59 

Dawson,  James 56 

Davis,  Jefferson   14,  52 

DeRosset,  L.  H 95 

Doe,  Red 9 

Doe,  White 11 

Dog,  mad 23 

Douglas,  Hon.  S.  A 52, 171 

Duel  (Flannerand  Willkings)  39 
Duel  (Moore  and  Smith) ...  137 
Donnelly,  Ignatius 123 

Edmunds,  Hon.  Geo.  F.,  220,  221 

Electoral  Commission   133 

Everett,  Edward 48, 122 

English  guitar   9 

Fabyan  House,  the 201 

Fanning,  David  9 

Farnsworth,  General   113 


248 


Index. 


PAGE. 

Fetter,  Professor 27 

Fillmore  and  Donelson....  39 

Fort  Fisher  57 

Foster  (spiritualist)   99 

Five  Points,  New  York 32 

Fort  Sumter 53 

Fool's  Errand,  the 164 

Fifer  of  Lundy's  Lane 190 

Ganey 62 

Garfield,  President   230 

German  Volunteers 45 

Gilliam,  Hon.  R.  B 19 

Globe,  Boston 231 

Graham,  Hon.  W.  A 19 

Graves,  R.  H 18 

Hale,  E.  J 46 

Hancock,  General 157,  184 

Tlarvell's  House 145 

Hawley,  General   58 

Haywood,  Hon.  W.  H 19 

Henry,  Hon.  G.  A 46 

Hewett,  Hon.  A.  S 120 

Hill,  Hon.  B.  H 129 

Hillsborough 7,  18,  19 

Hobbs  Bill  14 

Hubbard,  Professor 26 

Hurdy-Gurdy 29 

Hoar,  Geo.  F 117 

Idolatry  of  dollars 125 

Invisible  Prince   (play) 47 

Japanese  Embassy   52 

Jay,  Hon.  John 231 

Johnson,  President 99 

Judges,  old-time 32,  33 

Kew  Gardens   15 

Kelley,  Hon.  W.  D., 

98, 104, 115, 116 

Kirkland,  General  30 

Kingsley,  Rev.  Charles....   122 
Ku  Klux  Committee 109 

Lake  Champlain,  sunset  on,  172 
Lectures  


PAGE. 

Letters  Rebel  Brigadier. . .  157 

Liggins,   Charles   27 

Lord  Lytton   96 

Lind,  Jenny 31 

Lowe,  Captain   

Mangum,  Hon.  W.  P 19,  24 

Manly,  Governor 46 

Maynard  of  Tennessee.  104,105 

McMahon,  J.  A 135 

McRee,  Dr.  J.  F 102 

Meares,  Hon.  O.  P 51 

VIexican  War  14 

Miller,  Henry  W 19,  49 

Military  court 89 

?,Iitchell,  Professor 27 

Moore,  Judge  Alfred 7 

Money,  Senator   135 

Moore,  Col.  Maurice 137 

Moorefields  7 

Morrisey,  John 106 

Mules — none  in  New  Eng- 
land      174 

McClellan,  General   195 

r.It.  Washington,  ascent  of.  203 

Nash,  Judge 19,  28 

Nash,  General  10 

Nash,  Frank   7 

Negro  Problem  Conference,  247 

Negro  poll  holders 101 

New  York,  first  visit  to. . . .     30 

Niblo's  Garden 31 

New  England,  social  life,etc.  167 

Ole  Bull   94 

Pike,  Albert 125 

Phillips,  Professor 26,  27 

Phillips,  S.  F 28 

Pilot,  release  of 89 

Post-office  Committee 135 

Profile  House   196 

Quash  and  the  duel 137 

Randall,  Hon.  S.  J 130 

Randolph-Macon 73 


Index. 


249 


PAGE. 

Rebel  Brigadier 157 

Reade,  Hon.  E.  G 19 

Reconstruction 102 

Revolution,   Wilmington    . . .  245 

Rice  plantations   45 

Rice  of  Ohio  133 

Ruffin,  Chief  Justice 19 

Reston,  John 13 

Saunders,  Wm.  L 109 

Savage,  Henry   47 

Sheriff  of  Orange 20 

Ship  on  Wheels 13 

Shipwrecks 77 

St.  Nicholas  Hotel 31 

St.  James's  Church 57 

Sound,  Wrightsville 43 

Smith,  General 137 

Smithville 43 

Sprunt,  James   74 

Stephens,  A.  H 127 

Stuart,  J.  E.  B 51 

Swain,  President 25 

Swift,  General   137 

Stevens,  Thaddeus  99 

Tilden,  Samuel  J 133 

Thalian  Association  ......  47 


Tilton,  Theodore 

Tucker,  Hon.  J.  R 


PAGE. 

.     98 
.   120 


University  of  N.  C 24,  25 

"Universal"  Bill   22 

Venable,  Hon.  A.  W 19 

Vientemps 94 

Voorhees,  D.  W 112.  118 

Waddell,  Hugh  19,  77 

Waddell,  Maj.  J.  F 14 

Waddell,  Capt.  J.  1 96 

Waddell,  Capt.  H 77 

Waddell,  Mr.  John 74 

Ward,  Artemus  94 

Washington,  Booker 247 

Watson,  Bishop   58 

Wheat,  Prof.  J.  T 27 

Wilmington  Light  Infantry, 

45,50 

Wise,  Hon.  Geo.  D 15 

Wright,  Wm.  A 15 

Woodford,  S.  L 187 

Yellow  fever 55,  85 

Young,  P.  M.  B 128 


